Watch out, world. Toyota is heading back to the future.
The automaker has hinted it’s looking into flying cars. Now its Lexus luxury brand has actually built a working model of a hoverboard.
— Bloomberg
Social media lit up last night after Lexus revealed a tantalizing promo video for a "functional hoverboard" prototype. Smoke can be seen curling up from the skateboard-like design, which features a bamboo deck and "the iconic Lexus spindle grille." The prototype uses liquid nitrogen-cooled superconductors and magnets, a technology already implemented in Japan's high-speed rail lines to eliminate friction. While the video appears to show the board hovering on a regular surface, reports indicate that there is a metal track beneath the custom-designed skate park, which was built in a town outside of Barcelona.
If the video makes you nostalgic for Back to the Future, it's no coincidence. A more detailed release is slated for Oct. 21, the day that Marty McFly traversed back to the future.
Actually, this isn't actually the world's first overboard prototype. Hendo Hoverboard is a crowd-sourced technology designed by Greg Henderson, an architect by training. Henderson joined Archinect Sessions last fall to talk about the design and its potential architectural applications. Listen to our conversation here and check out videos of the two hoverboard prototypes below.
2 Comments
pfff
still waiting on my Hendo Board!
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