The hoverboard has been idea that people have toyed around with ever since it appeared in Back to the Future. Numerous attempts have been made to replicate the concept, but the largest breakthroughs were made when scientists discovered how superconductors reacted differently when supercooled with liquid nitrogen.
This provided the basis for a hoverboard system. So while Lexus may not have been the first to discover the science behind it, they did decide to take it to a more practical level. There are other hoverboard manufacturers out there who have thought of the same, although Lexus’ aim was to combine function and form, creating a hoverboard that would meet Lexus design standards.
This video details the project quite well, showing the evolution of the hoverboard from a simple supercooled container, to something that can take the weight of a full sized adult and still be controllable to a certain degree. There’s still a lot of room for improvement, and Lexus still hasn’t addressed the need for liquid nitrogen, but it’s a start.
And here’s the final video as a product. It may seem like a perfect product on the outside, but the stunts are largely staged with the need for a metal track that locks the hoverboard in place and provides a track for it. But one can’t deny that Lexus has definitely made the hoverboard a lot sexier than Back to the Future initially imagined it.
