Oculus Rift, Kinect, Wii Balance Board combined to simulate hoverboard

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May 25, 2014

If you’ve ever watched Back to the Future Part II you’ve probably fantasized about one day owning and riding your own hoverboard.

So far, science has failed us miserably in that department. Back to the Future Part II takes place in 2015 and we are nowhere near getting our hoverboards, though Tony Hawk and the actor that plays Doc Brown in Back to The Future, Christopher Lloyd, made a great fake advertisement for one just a couple of months ago.

Realistically, you’ll probably never get to ride one. However Quince (via Kill Screen), a communications agency based in Amsterdam, proved that it could simulate the experience using an Oculus Rift, Kinect, and a Wii Balance Board. The Hoverboard VR uses the Wii Balance Board as the controller, the Kinect to track your body and translate it to virtual reality, and the Oculus Rift to fully immerse you in the experience. The graphics look crude at the moment, but it’s a great proof of concept.

It’s an elaborate setup, but not nearly the only creative implementation of Oculus Rift we’ve seen. A couple of weeks ago we reported on Birdly, which uses Oculus Rift and a large contraption to simulate the experience of flying like a bird.