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This website is promoting a hovering skateboard.

As far as my knowledge can tell, this seems fake. The only two known technologies I know of which can hover like that are magnets and quantum levitation. But they both require a modified floor, which wasn't used here.

Have I missed something? Is this fake or real?

The closest real thing I've seen is the MagSurf. which uses quantum levitation. But it requires a special surface and it's highly limited in terms of maneuverability compared to the supposedly real Huvr.

Update:

All answers were wonderful and each one added a point not mentioned by others, I advise you to check them all out. I've decided to pick Jwenting's answer not because it's the most convincing, but because it relies on simply comparing the Huvr board technology to common sense and known scientific facts. If for some reason all external references the answers rely on disappear, Jwenting's answer would still be valid.

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    Just a note, Quantum Levitation is a phenomena involving magnetic fields and superconductors, and since one side (the rail) of the levitating device is made of magnets, it can be said that Quantum Levitation is a subset of the "magnets technology".
    – SIMEL
    Mar 5, 2014 at 8:47
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    look carefully at the video the guy at 2:14 clearly has a line going out of his shirt collar to a harness Mar 5, 2014 at 8:54
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    Look at the video from 3:27 to 3:29, you will see the shadow of the harness on the white booth. m.natemat.pl/1d95c2c9b7b56ffbd1f0cc123377dd14,641,0,0,0.jpg
    – vartec
    Mar 5, 2014 at 13:53
  • It's a lead in to Nike's self tying shoes, or a reboot of the back to the future franchise. The former is more likely than the latter, IMO.
    – Adam Davis
    Mar 5, 2014 at 15:23
  • See also this Ali G video of him pitching a similar product. Starts at 5:15 (some of the content before that point is NSFW). youtube.com/watch?v=nkuOuxRD1Bc Mar 6, 2014 at 18:10

5 Answers 5

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Looking at their own website, the product they describe has no electrical or mechanical parts at all. "Made from only 2 pieces of paramagnetic titanium".
Also, it has optional handlebars "for added lateral stability on 'high slip surfaces' such as concrete".
And in their terms of service they explicitly state that what you read may 'contain inaccuracies', in other words it may well all be a pack of lies.

Quoting their legal notice:

...HUVr does not warrant the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of such information and materials or the reliability of any advice, opinion, statement or other information displayed or distributed through the site...

They CLAIM to have engineered antigravity while working on battery technology, a highly doubtful claim as antigravity is not known to be physically possible and has never been observed.

Were it real, it would be a scientific breakthrough large enough that even the popular press would pick up on it, yet the only things an internet search shows are hoax websites and conspiracy theories. Of course you may choose to believe in those, but thinking people usually don't.

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    "Paramagnetic titanium"? Is that even a thing that exists? (checks Apparently, yes, but it wouldn't be of much use)
    – Shadur
    Mar 5, 2014 at 10:50
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    That kind of legal speak is on nearly every legal web page I have ever read. People are sued for anything these days, including saying something is red when it's a little closer to pink or saying something is a foot long when it's only 11 inches or so.
    – user11643
    Mar 5, 2014 at 20:42
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UPDATE:

Funny or Die have admitted that the video is a hoax on their site.


Original answer:

The "Huvr board" is most probably a hoax product.

In addition to Jwenting's answer depicting the problem with the fact that a breakthrough technological achievement wasn't published in any form, professional, scientific or popular. Several sites on the internet have found evidence suggesting that this is a hoax.

From Nerd Reactor, the lead engineer depicted in the videos is an actor named Nelson Cheng: His site, His IMDB page.

Also, according to Mashable a costume designer who worked on the shoot revealed that the shoot was produced by funny or die on her online resume by mistake. I've also uploaded a screen capture of the cached page here.

Also, this Heavy.com article explores other aspects that support the theory that it's a hoax:

The cinematography style of the videos:

As cool as these hoverboard videos are, there are many signs that the hoverboard tech is bogus. There are no long, wide shots of the hoverboard in use, which means that wires used to fake this kind of hoverboard tech could be just off screen.

Some 4th wall breaking moments at the videos and anonymity of the main character (played by the actor Nelson Cheng):

Additionally, the main "HUVr" tech guy in the blue shirt is never identified by name, which he would likely be if his product were real. Plus, some fans say they can see a harness under Tony Hawk's shirt in the video, while others say they can see Terrell Owens being held up on the board.

The anonymity of the site owners and the supposed inventors:

Slashgear notes:

The webpage for the company is protected from analyzation by Protected Domain Services, though we can see that it was created on the 25th of November, 2013 - or at least protected from that date forward.

If the people who own the domain want to remain anonymous, chances are they just aren't legit.

And the possible motives of the celebrities involved.

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Yes, it is very much fake. If you pause at 3:28, as depicted in the image here:

Huvr http://imgur.com/jYIKgR3

You can see the wire attached to the person, as well as the rig's shadow used to hold up the person. They did a very good job of hiding such things for the most part otherwise.

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  • Reverted the edit due to the fact that the picture shows no visible harness, despite the poster of the picture declaring that it did.
    – Waterseas
    Mar 6, 2014 at 16:58
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It seems that Funny or Die put together this hoax:

http://www.scpr.org/blogs/newmedia/2014/03/04/15990/funny-or-die-apparently-behind-fake-back-to-the-fu/

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This indeed is fake. The entire hoax campaign has been built around some idea to make a future product launch successful (Which most probably is a new product line from Nike!). See this link for some more details(Actually not details but this confirms it's a fake campaign)

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    The link is a news article but does not contain any evidence, am I missing something?
    – Sklivvz
    Mar 5, 2014 at 17:08
  • Possibly an early promo for en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Back_to_the_Future_(musical)
    – tobyink
    Mar 5, 2014 at 23:19
  • @Sklivvz I linked the article because it's from a reputed tech website. If they cannot confirm it, possibly it's fake. And hence I wrote that at least it confirm that the product is not real.
    – Maxsteel
    Mar 6, 2014 at 6:55

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