Hoverboards are now real and ready

According to Back to the Future, hoverboards should be with us by next year. Hendo have made this a realty that you can actually own.

Thanks to a new Kickstarter campaign the developers are offering up their current working model to pledgers.

The board doesn’t look too dissimilar to the one ridden by Marty McFly in Back to the Future 2 which just makes it even more awesome.

The video below shows the board hovering and supporting the full weight of a rider. This will get your geek glands going, but it’s not all good news though.

The board works on a similar principle to the MagLev trains. The board has four disc-shaped “hover engines” which create a magnetic field that pushes against itself and thus creates lift.

This means that you’ll also need a surface which is a non-ferromagnetic conductor to ride over.

Even though this is version 18 of the board there are still a few teething problems, not to mention the whining noise.

Hendo hopes to achieve a board offering a 1-inch ride height, a sleeker form factor and full control over movement alongside some safety measurements should anything go wrong.

As to be expected, these things aren’t cheap. A pre-built model will set you back $10,000 while a ‘DIY kit’ will only cost $299.

The campaign currently has 53 days left to go and has managed to raise over $220,000 of its $250,000 goal from 980 backers.

All of the pre-built Hendo hoverboards are gone now so if you had $10,000 lying around, you’ll have to spend it on something else. However, there are plenty of DIY kits left if you want to try out the early technology. You can check out the Kickstarter page and strap on your Nike Air Mags.

Personally, I’m still more about the Speeder Bike that’s coming.

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