Like many who marvelled at the technology in the Back To The Future trilogy, we were especially interested in the hover boards and self-lacing shoes that Marty sported in those movies. Over the years, the promise of this kind of technology has inspired a number of fakes, and even a promise from Nike. Today, new hoverboards were announced by HUVr. Real, or some sort of viral marketing stunt? Hit the jump to find out more.
In a video included on the HUVr web site, a number of stars are shown riding the new hoverboards while a crowd cheers and an apparent engineer oversees the process. Stars in the video include the original Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd), Tony Hawk, Moby, and even Terrell Owens. Various people are shown engaging the boards with a smartphone and riding them – even on a half-pipe.
It’s clear the folks riding these boards are wearing harnesses. Whether the tricks employed include ultra-thin wires, or airbrushing; the result actually looks pretty slick. The short videos provided were filmed in a small parking lot adjacent to a wig shop at 1053 S. Main St. in Los Angeles. Since this lot has a large edge facing a street, it would be easy for them to bring in a big crane for a day and do the shot. At least the wigs are real.
More proof that this is fake? The man that appears to be some part of the HUVr engineering team is actually actor Nelson Chang. He looks the part, but barring a huge career shift, it’s he’s still an actor.
The question remains; What is this project promoting? Some are speculating this may be related to the announcement of a new trilogy. It kind of fits too. The HUVr site lists “DEC 2014” as the destination time, a great time to release a movie trailer for a summer 2015 release. Keeping this under wraps so well, and lining it up to the year Marty arrives in the future, might be genius marketing moves.
The huvrtech.com domain includes private registration, and a glance at the site’s source reveals little about HUVr’s intent. Perhaps we’re all wrong and these hoverboards are real.
Update: SourceFeed has found proof this is a Funny Or Die stunt. A production designer, Lauren Biedenharn, had information about this film production on in her online resume. The details have since been removed and Funny Or Die hasn’t yet commented about the project. This would have been a perfect April fools prank, don’t you think?
Update 2: Tony Hawk finally reveals what the prank was about and shows some behind the scenes footage.