Hover board or hoverboard is a word that is becoming increasingly popular all over the world. The reason is the exciting new personal transportation board that has come into the market.
The hover board which is more frequently written as one word, hoverboard, is a two wheeled self balancing electric scooter board. This is what it looks like and these are its main parts:
The hover board is different from a Segway or an electric scooter. All of these personal transportation products work on a similar principal, that it will have wheels, will be electrically powered and will have gyroscopes to keep the balance. The form factor differs quite a bit, from the original Segway design with a tall handle, to the NineBot with a knee operated lever, to the one wheel to the hoverboard.
Here is a cool graphic showing the main types of options that exist in the self-balancing electric scooter marketplace:
From all of these, why is it that the hover board has become a sensation. The Segway which also works on similar principals has been around for some time but it never really picked up in popularity. Some companies like Lexus and Hendo are trying to make hoverboards that actually hover over the ground, but they are limited by where they can hover and how much they cost. The Lexus hoverboard needs a magnetic surface to hover and the Hendo requires a particular kind of surface. Their costs are enormous, and they are not going to be commercially manufactured for a long time to come. No truly hovering board has been made, that can hover on any surface. Nor are the boards which do hover metallic surfaces at a price that is within reach of most people.
The hover board gives the feeling of hovering over the surface for the rider and is available at a very reasonable cost. All in all, it is awesome because of many reasons.
10 reasons why the hover board is so popular
- It is relatively cheap, costing anywhere between $ 200 and $ 1800.
- It is small in size and can be easily carried.
- It looks fantastic compared to the others in the category.
- It does not have any handles or other controlling features, making it compact and sleek.
- It makes the rider look like he or she is gliding, and gets a lot of attention.
- It looks like great fun, and the actual hoverboarding experience is even better.
- It is easy to learn and once you understand how it works, it is quite intuitive to ride.
- It has a short charging time, between 60 to 120 minutes.
- A full charge will have it running for six hours or about 15 kilometers on average.
- It has been endorsed and flaunted by celebrities of every genre – Wiz Khalifa, Mike Tyson, Jamie Foxx, Lily Allen, Jennifer Lopez, Usain Bolt, Caspar Smart, TY Dolla Sign, Justin Bieber, Kylie Jenner, Chris Brown, Skrillex, Rapper Kid Ink, Shemar Moore, Tyga, Kendall Jenner, Ruby Rose, John Legend, Matt Paris, Jessica Alba, Cash Warren, John Wall, Willie Cauley-Stein, Film Director Casey Neistat, Composer Austin Mahone, Musician Nicky Jam, Footballer Karim Benzema, Ivana Korab, JR Smith, Nina Agdal and the list keeps getting bigger.
Here is a video of celebrities on hover boards:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qs8jWwmL34s
Here is a video that features a man asking people what he is riding, and most people say hover board:
If you want to know more about the hover board, do check out – What is a hoverboard
Here are some more resources for you: