Something about this just seems mean spirited to me. I guess it is authentic in terms of the kind of ridiculously emotional hype that start ups tend to do these days, but somehow that tone doesn't mix well with the dry viral con.
It's sort of a clash of marketing techniques. The inspirational "we finally live in the future" thing works because it gets people really psyched to have a product. The viral marketing scam thing works because people are good-natured about being tricked if the trick is executed well (the same reason people can enjoy magicians).
But I don't think you can mix those. People are going to be less good-natured about being promised hoverboards again and then finding out that there will be no hoverboards again.
This is making fun of small teams creating revolutionary technology. Maybe not intentionally, maybe they only intend to promote a new movie or video game or something, but intentionally or not, they are making fun of startups.
Startups like these are real. They are creating incredibly cool new technology. The oculus rift, the pebble watch, and tons of others. That's whom this is making fun of.
And because crowd funding is a big part of making these new technologies happen, making fun and creating a fake tech is poisoning the well.
Intentionally or not, this is poising the well that gave us the Oculus Rift and others.
And that's why I really hope this advertising campaign backfires bad. I hope what ever this is supposed to be promoting, be it movies, video games or shoes, I hope it bombs bad. And bombs thanks to pissed off consumers.
I think this might be a viral advert for the next Back To The Future movie. A film studio would have access to special effects, the car, the actors and celebrities and the financial backing for such an elaborate fake.
Yep, you could even see their shirts move when the harness takes their weight.
Also, as soon as they "hover" they're suddenly putting no weight on their legs. Unless hovering implies complete gravity reversal, that doesn't make sense. They'd still be putting all their weight on the board.
"The inclusion of any products or services on this website at a particular time does not imply or warrant that these products or services will be available at any time."
Just in case anyone thinks this is a real product.
Well they could have problems with manufacturing. Making real physical products in mass quantities does incur problems that deploying software does not.
They T&C also has this
> In addition to other regulations and speed limits, users of our products must be at least 16 years of age and between the height of 4’11 and 6’4. To ride safely, you must read and follow all instructions and warnings in the User Manual. It is your responsibility to ascertain and obey all applicable regulations (including minimum age and height requirements) in regard to the possession, use and sale of any item purchased from this website. By placing an order, you represent that the products ordered will be used only in a lawful manner.
As well as stating somewhere that this only works with 180lbs or lower.
UPDATE: I got trolled. No patents or patent applications and their domain has a hidden owner.
I would like to see a startup sell the wiring equipment that allows you to perform the hovering tricks featured in this video. I bet it's really fun to fly around on one of those harnesses, even if it doesn't use magical anti-gravity technology.
If this is promoting new Back To The Future content, I think a video game makes much more sense than a movie, since the actors are getting old but their voices can still adapt.
For those unaware, this has been done once already via TellTale's Back To The Future: The Game (http://www.telltalegames.com/backtothefuture/) which offers interesting story and featured many of the original actors' voices and takes place a few months after the original movies. (If you don't want to buy it, you can also watch a playthrough on YouTube.)
What would be required to make a real hover board? I assume that first off it would need to be a bit larger. And some kind of control mechanism, maybe near the toe area? But as for the actual tech, is it even remotely possible?
To do it with magnets, I'm guessing you'd need a magnetic field so powerful it would destroy electronics as you passed by them (you'd have to repel off of the EM field of the Earth). To do it with air, your "board" would be more of a "tank". Maybe there are other mechanisms you could exploit, like a static field (although I wouldn't want to stand anywhere near it), but none of them seem practical.
I guess if we had room temp superconductors and you could install them under all of the roads and sidewalks, and the hover board had really strong magnets onboard, that might hover.
Or if it's a self contained theme park "ride" you could possibly use existing super conductors and actively cool them. (I'm imaging a super cold skate rinc concept)
The reason I know this is fake: I'm 200lbs, and this thing has a max capacity of 180lbs. And I sure as hell know that I weight less than Terrell Owens.
I didn't really think they were all needed but apparently even celebrity endorsements from Tony Hawk isn't enough to convince people that this is a real product. Whether or not it comes out without any issues is another story.
I remember reading a story that Mattel actually had a prototype over a decade ago, but they declined to release it. I forgot why.
Strange. It looks almost exactly like the Mattel hoverboard
I was trolled twice. Once by the special effects guy and director from Back to the Future II in the late 80s and today =) For details look up hoverboard on Snopes.
It's sort of a clash of marketing techniques. The inspirational "we finally live in the future" thing works because it gets people really psyched to have a product. The viral marketing scam thing works because people are good-natured about being tricked if the trick is executed well (the same reason people can enjoy magicians).
But I don't think you can mix those. People are going to be less good-natured about being promised hoverboards again and then finding out that there will be no hoverboards again.