Tony Hawk Helped Design a Hoverboard, Just in Time for Back to the Future Day

The date Marty McFly traveled forward to in Back to the Future Part II is right around the corner, and sadly we’re still waiting on someone to perfect hoverboard technology. We’ve seen a handful of hoverboard designs, and a few hoaxes, but still nothing suitable for the cinematic chase scene featured in the classic sequel. The latest hoverboard is the Hendo 2.0, and while it may not be exactly what we imagined, it at least had some design input from terrestrial-boarding legend Tony Hawk.

Like Lexus’ recent hoverboard prototype, the Hendo uses electromagnetic energy to levitate over a specially-designed conductive surface. The first version raised over half a million dollars on Kickstarter last year, and now the tech firm Arx Pax is releasing their second design just in time for Back to the Future Day on October 21. The board is thinner and sleeker than the original model, and apparently maneuvers more like an actual skateboard, thanks to feedback from Tony Hawk. The video below shows Hawk testing out the initial version, and the ride leans more towards awkward than extreme.

Even if the Hendo 2.0 does achieve skateboard-level maneuverability, it can only work over surfaces made of conductive materials like copper. Perhaps riding it would feel more authentic while sipping from a bottle of Pepsi Perfect. Arx Pax will release the final design of their board to coincide with Marty McFly’s time travel journey on October 21, 2015.