Has the future arrived? Lexus — yes, the car brand — has recently released a promotional video boasting that they have "created a real, rideable hoverboard." Named SLIDE, the hoverboard is a slick new prototype that glides smoothly a few centimeters above the ground.
The trick, it seems, is magnetic levitation, courtesy permanent magnets and superconductors kept cool with liquid nitrogen, Lexus says. So while the promotional video makes it look like it's operating in any old skate park, Wired reports that there is a metal layer underneath — which means you won't be able to ride this board around the streets.
Lexus says they have been working on SLIDE for 18 months and claim to have worked with a pro skateboarder during development. Whether it actually rides like a super smooth skateboard is yet to be seen. The board will be featured in a larger ad campaign currently being shot in Spain, PCWorld reports.
This isn't the first hoverboard to exist — although it might be the sleekest. Last year, the Hendo Hoverboard launched on Kickstarter. Utilizing the same philosophy, their model used four "engines" that "induce an opposing magnetic field," to hover over a copper floor.
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