![]() ![]() Dozens of start-up companies are competing to develop commercial jetpacks, flying motorbikes and personal air taxis. The technology that could end traffic jamsĪt the moment, the autonomous urban aircraft market is still a bit of a Wild West.Is this the start of an aviation revolution?.Most important, these vehicles are designed to offer faster commutes than traditional modes of transit for individuals, especially in traffic-clogged cities. Tilt rotors, for example, allow for efficiency in forward flight at longer distances, while multirotors are designed to reduce noise in hover flight. Far smaller than a commercial plane, most are designed with rotors instead of wings, which allow for vertical takeoff and landing. Lexus says testing of its bespoke hover board will commence in Barcelona, Spain, in the coming weeks.These aircraft may not look exactly like Blade Runner’s imaginings. That's the same day that the protagonists of the hugely successful Back to the Future Part II movie arrived in the 'future' from the late 1980s… There is also the Hendo Hoverboard, which is advertised as production-ready for October 21, 2015. It's not clear if Lexus plans to sell the hover board publicly, but global interest in such devices is clearly strong, after a hoax video of skateboard legend Tony Hawk amassed more than 16 million views on YouTube. It's the perfect example of the amazing things that can be achieved when you combine technology, design and imagination," he said. "That determination, combined with our passion and expertise for design and innovation, is what led us to take on the hover board project. "At Lexus, we constantly challenge ourselves and our partners to push the boundaries of what is possible," said Mark Templin, Lexus International executive vice president. More likely a desirable object designed to inspire new styles and highlight the brand's innovative streak – most luxury car-makers stick to push bikes and wrist watches – the Lexus hover board features the brand's trademark spindle grille signature shape and is finished with high-tech and indeed natural materials, including bamboo. It's unlikely a powerful array of magnets within a small board can levitate itself and a rider over bitumen or grass. For a hover board to work like China's famous mag-lev (magnetic levitation) train, it would need a metal road or surface to travel above, like the mag-lev's track. Lexus claims to have "partnered with world leading experts in super conductive technology" to deploy "one of the most advanced hover boards ever developed".Īs the short video shows, there's vapour emanating from within the device, which Lexus says is from the liquid nitrogen necessary to cool the superconductors and permanent magnets that are required to provide magnetic levitation.īut therein lies the issue. Yet with only a few images and short video – which doesn't show the hover board in action – there's still a lot of scepticism surrounding the luxury car-makers' concept. It's a bit too late for an April Fool's joke and Lexus isn't in the habit of drumming up publicity for fake products. The idea of a skateboard without wheels that floats on air is completely farcical yet it hasn't stopped countless inventors attempting to replicate the movie prop.Īnd now Lexus claims to have created the real thing. Ever since the seminal Back to the Future Part II film screened in 1989, starring a baby-faced Michael J Fox, there has been huge amount of nostalgia for an improbable device called the hover board. ![]()
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