It isn't exactly Marty McFly speeding on air in "Back to the Future II," but it's getting better.
Arx Pax of Los Gatos, California, has developed a 2.0 version of its Hendo Hoverboard that reportedly has more of a skateboard feel and better maneuverability.
This Hendo, like its 2014 predecessor, actually suspends in the air -- getting us a little bit closer to the board envisioned in the popular movie series than the earthbound gizmos saturating the market.
The hoverboard, however, still can't operate on many surfaces. The special copper floor at Arx Pax helps activate the magnetic-opposite effect required to keep the board (slightly) airborne.
"We do believe it’s possible for our hover engines to one day work on any surface,"Arx Pax’s founders, Greg and Jill Henderson, told The Huffington Post in an email. "We have surface experts already researching ways to turn everyday surfaces like streets and sidewalks into hoverable surfaces."
While Arx Pax designs hover engines for different purposes, it's not actually a hoverboard company, so it isn't currently planning to make a model available for consumers, the founders said.
But the hoverboard is new and improved. After Arx Pax got some input from skateboard hero Tony Hawk, it now features a real skateboard deck, as Arx Pax engineer Shauna Moran explains to Wired's Brent Rose in the video above.
Plus, the electrical system has been reworked to incorporate more powerful engines, engineer Kyle O'Neil tells The Associated Press in the video below. The battery runs longer and the device can pop up on its own, he said.
And perhaps most important, it's a good time.
"This is so fun," Wired's Rose said after a test drive.
H/T Gizmodo