Until the scientific community gets off its collective duff and starts researching the important and poorly understood field of Hoverboard technology, we’ll just have to comfort ourselves with the Kinect-commanded, electric-powered, and Windows 8-controlled Board of Awesomeness from Chaotic Moon.
The Board of Awesomeness (BoA), employs an as-of-yet unreleased Window’s 8 tablet in conjunction with a Kinect control bar to drive an 800 watt electric skateboard using a 36 volt power supply. Riders control the speed — either slow, medium, and fast — through a combination of voice commands and hand gestures, with a maximum speed of 32MPH. Push your hands forward and the board accelerates, pull them back and the board cruises to a halt. Directional changes appear to be controlled the old-fashioned way — by leaning back and forth.
I’d love to take one of these for a spin despite being terrified of putting my foot through a tablet screen after hitting one of San Francisco’s many potholes. [Chaotic Moon – Slashgear]