Hoverboards Are Real: Maker Seeks Kickstarter Funds For Flying Skateboard [VIDEO]

Hoverboards are awesome. If you’ve seen 1989’s “Back to the Future Part II,” you’ve probably wondered what it would be like to zip around town on a floating skateboard. Now, a real hoverboard may be within your grasp. Arx Pax of California is seeking funding for its Hendo hoverboard, with 54 days left to reach its maximum goal of $250,000.

Check out the video below.

Currently, the Hendo hoverboard can levitate about an inch from the ground. The technology behind the device lies in four disc-shaped hover engines. These circular magnets create a magnetic field that pushes against itself, lifting the board from the ground. This means the hoverboard will only work on certain types of floors, like those made of copper or aluminum.

“The hoverboard is simultaneously fascinating and exhilarating. The enabling technologies existed, but no one had yet been able to align them to bring a hoverboard forth,” the company’s Kickstarter page says. “Hendo has done so, and our hoverboards are working in almost every way we could have imagined. But perfecting it will take a little more time and resources.”

The company has raised $67,000 of its $250,000 goal. Forty-five percent of the funds will go to the Hover Engine factory setup and production, with 20 percent going toward research and development. Thirty percent will go to hiring new engineers and lab space, with 5 percent going to a Hover park. Arx Pax also promises the hoverboards will be assembled in Los Gatos, California, though parts will come from a number of international suppliers.

“We have already built a working hoverboard, so the principle risk of not being able to deliver on our big promise is nil,” the company said. “However, there is the possibility we do not add as much functionality as we would like by the delivery date.”

The company’s current model is its 18th prototype, which can carry around 300 pounds for up to 15 minutes.