Hoverboards, flying cars, passenger drones, it's starting to look as if the futuristic world of tomorrow promised to us by movies from decades ago is emerging. And thanks to Russian startup Hoversurf, we now have what's claimed to be the world's first fully-manned hoverbike.
Hoversurf, which is also developing a drone taxi like the one from Chinese firm Ehang, says its Scorpion-3 hoverbike "is a single-seat aircraft that rediscovers the art of flying and hovering enabling a hi-tech quadcopter-based solution."
The video shows the machine slowly traveling just a short distance inside a warehouse, but it's able to move at 50kph (around 31 mph), fly for 27 minutes, and carry up to 150 kg (331 pounds). It's powered by both electricity and a hybrid battery and is expected to cost around $150,000.
The company took inspiration from heavy-duty sports-utility motorbike frames when designing the Scorpion-3. It can handle extreme conditions and uses in-house custom software that allows full manual and automated control.
For anyone nervous about taking to the skies on a flying motorbike, the Scorpion-3 has a safety system that, among other things, features computer aided speed and altitude limiting.
Right now, the Scorpion-3 is seen as an extreme sports device but it has potential in other areas of transportation.
As noted by TNW, Hoversurf showed off a different prototype hoverbike last year, one that can be controlled by both a pilot and remotely using a controller. Check it out in the video below.