In Back to the Future Part II, Michael J. Fox’s Marty McFly traveled to October 21, 2015, to secure the fate of his future children. Once there, he was engulfed in a cutting-edge and revolutionary landscape, one filled with holographic sharks, bizarre Pepsi containers, and of course, hoverboards.
Lexus has announced that it will unveil its Slide hoverboard concept on August 5, meaning that we’re right on schedule for McFly’s arrival. Sort of.
As we discussed when the concept was first teased, the Slide uses liquid nitrogen-cooled superconductors, permanent magnets, and some sort of black magic voodoo to levitate, yet the technology only works over surfaces with a decent magnetic field. In other words, metal. That means the Slide probably won’t be tearing up your local skate park any time soon, and kick flips aren’t happening.
Still, we’ve only seen a couple clips of the board levitating and scooting along sans rider, so it should be quite the sight to (possibly) witness someone perched atop it just like Martin Seamus himself. We just hope someone at Lexus invented a sweet auto-drying jacket to go along with it.
In reality, magnetic levitation is nothing new, as companies and researchers have been toying with the technology for years. “Mag-lev” systems have been featured on high-speed trains for some time now, however the Slide is definitely the first application of its kind. The top of the board is finished in natural bamboo — etched with the Lexus logo, of course — and the brand’s trademark spindle grille shape is featured prominently on top.
If you’re hoping the Slide shows up in stores one day, don’t hold your breath. The prototype was created as a showcase of Lexus’ creativity and innovation — part of the group’s “Amazing in Motion” project — and mainly serves as a unique marketing opportunity.
Why the company didn’t wait till October 21 to release it, though, we’ll never understand.
