The Back to the Future series is packed with memorable moments, but one of the most iconic has to be the hoverboard sequence in the second movie. Inspired by the classic film, Australian developer Kieran Lord has created Hoverboards Inc, a title built in Unity that uses Oculus Rift and the Wii Fit Balance Board to simulate the feeling of using a skateboard without wheels.
Lord had plenty of good things to say about the Nintendo peripheral, and without it, his project may not have reached the stage it has now:
The Wii Fit board is actually a really awesome device, you can use it in VR to move around in a way similar to riding on a Segway. Because the board doesn't catch your body as you move it feels far more sensitive than a real skateboard. In fact from talking to people I'm getting the impression that the experience feels somewhere between surfing and skating.
Lord has demoed the game at PAX Australia and received a very positive reaction. Sadly it's unlikely to ever make it to the Wii U, but even so, it's cool to see Nintendo hardware being used in such an inventive fashion. It also means we now have not one but two Wii Balance Board projects which are aiming to make Marty McFly's futuristic pastime a reality, and that's got to be a good thing, right?
[source redbull.com]
Comments 8
I recognize that music in the hoverboard Youtube clip.
Its a song by band Alcorus called Shine - the theme from Mirrors Edge.
I did see a Balance Board very cheap a while ago. I'll see if I can find it so I can try it on my PC too.
you can connect your balance board to your PC and use it in games.
two common uses: as brake and accelerator pedals in driving games, and mapped to WASD keys for movement in FPS games.
other good uses are for people with limited arm or hand dexterity but with use of their legs: they can use the balance board to click the left and right mouse buttons, and face tracking to control mouse movement.
does anyone else have any good alternative uses for the balance board?
Balance Board is really awesome. I remember using it for that Avatar game and thinking it had great potential. And it sold great too. Nifty device.
Now it needs a hover-sled mode that makes you use the much-advertised butt controls of Raving Rabbids: TV Party.
That's exciting! I've always wanted Nintendo to make an ambitious balance board type action game. In my mind this dream game would be reminiscent of sin and punishment and you use wiimotes as guns/swords while riding on some type of floaty or skate board. My rational self realizes that not many people own balance boards though, and the demographic that does is more the casual wii fit type. I just think it would be rad to get a workout on your balance board while saving the world and wailing on 1000s of dudes. Here's a check for my 2 cents, but wait 'til tomorrow to deposit it. Cash is tight around the holidays.
Completely ignored the word "game" in the title, and consequently nearly killed myself trying to recover our old balance board stored in the attic... curse you, Marty!
Oh, neato.
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