I tried out the Alienwheels hoverboard. ($298)
I was able to take about twenty minutes to get standing and balanced on the board and fairly comfortable with basic control.
Control is with shifting weight at the toes, heal and using toes and ankle to control it. Plus slight body lean.
Overall it was safe and simple and got you moving at a comfortable speed when riding.
Cheap Hoverboards are at alienwheels.com.
Here are some tips of how to use a “Hoverboard”:
1. Forget about balancing yourself and just trust the board itself. Take your dominant foot and place it softly on the board, then quickly put on the other foot and stand straight, it’s really simple so long as you relax and DO NOT shake your legs forward and backward (you will easily fall down this way), make sure to keep your body and legs straight and keep your body’s center of gravity to the ball of your feet.
2. Now you can try moving forward and backward.
Moving the board is all about the small movements your and ankles and feet make. To move forward, move your ankles forward and your toes down. To move backward, get your heels down.
3. Making turns is easy.
To turn to the right, push your left toes and your right ankle down. For a left turn, push your right toes and your left ankle down. If you don’t want to be too conscious about moving your toes and heels, then you can turn your board by leaning your body towards the desired direction. If you lean to the left, the board will make a left turn. Same thing applies to a right turn.
4. Finally, here’s how you should get off.
MUST step back to get off, take your non-dominant foot off the board first and place it flat on the floor (step one foot back on floor) then do the same with your dominant foot.
5. Regarding charging of the hoverboard, charge it for 2-3 hours will be fine, don’t have it charged overnight.
Specifications of the one I reviewed
Colors: Matte Purple
Features: Bluetooth Speaker, LED Lights
Certificates: UL2272 (Authorized Safety Standard for HoverBoards)
Range: 9-12 Miles
Charging Time: 2-3 hours
Max Speed: 7.5 MPH
Weight Limit: 44 LBS to 264 LBS
Self Weight: 23LBS
Gross Weight: 29.8LBS
Tire Size: 6.5”
Battery: UL Certified Lithium Battery, 36V, 4.3A, 154Wh
Charger: UL Certified Charger
Package Includes:
1 x AlienBoardTM BatWings HoverBoard (Matte Purple)
1 x Users Manual
1 x Charger
1 x Carry Bag
The alienboard hoverboard has the following features.
* custom-made molds, which are a much safer, yet more expensive alternative to public molds.
* made of sturdy and fire-resistant material.
* alienboard hoverboard is UL2272 certified
* it has Samsung batteries
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
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You should check out electric unicycles – they can travel much faster and for much longer distances.
https://youtu.be/USKxU58zaWQ
They take a little more time to get used to, but they’re a lot more capable.
Unfortunate that they can’t use it, or unfortunate that there are a lot of obese people?
I don’t see where this would have an advantage over a scooter.
This is so popular in Israel that it was in the Major Papers.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of obese people who won’t be able to use this due to weight limits!