First prize goes to Hendo Hover by Arx Pax.

Second place is awarded to SLIDE by Lexus.

While the interiors differ by way of a supercooling superconductor and the exterior designs differ in function versus luxury, the undeniable correlation between Arx Pax and Lexus is their dependent use of magnetism used to glide their respective hoverboard inches above the ground. Thus far, principles of physics have revealed magnets as the primary source of generating a hovering effect with a person riding a wheel-less skateboard above a metal/magnetic surface.

To create the illusion of a hoverboard Marty McFly might ride to perfect his riding and escaping skills, Lexus built a skate park in Barcelona, Spain with magnets underneath the surface and just below a sleek water strip. The promotional video for the company (which was devised to showcase its innovative prowess) will admittedly not lead to a hoverboard for purchase down the road (well, technically not for the “road”) or any further hovering parks. That’s a bummer.

Still, their finished product is pretty damn cool.

Arx Pax and Lexus clearly have the best taste in entertaining cinema and they also understand the wonderful power of dreaming big. We all wanted to travel to “2015” when we saw Back to the Future: Part II in movie theaters in 1989. Besides buying a pair of Nike power lace shoes (later this year!), wearing a power-drying jacket and getting our hands on “Grays Sports Almanac from 1950-2000,” we wanted a hoverboard. As our pop culture-driven scientists are in the alpha stage of developing an anywhere-anytime hoverboard, it’s exciting to be on any path that resides above the ground.

Every life-altering invention started somewhere stuck between limitation and doubt.

And then the future arrives…