As you’ll see in the parts list below, the Kinect isn’t the only tech behind the BoA. Since fitting an Xbox 360 or a laptop on the board isn’t exactly a smart move, Chaotic Moon Labs used a tablet as the system’s brains. But they didn’t just use any tablet, they got their hands on a yet-to-be-released Samsung tablet running the yet-to-be-released Windows 8 operating system. The tablet handles the voice control, toggling the motor on and off as well as managing the speed settings.

Thanks to Kinect, the Board of Awesomeness has the Controls of Simplicity: put your arms forward and push down to make it accelerate – the board’s max speed is 32mph – and pull your arms back up to make it slow down.

A few years ago it would be unthinkable for prototype products to make their way to pet projects like this. Now the next Windows is chillin’ on a longboard, the next iPhone’s getting wasted on a bar… Things have really loosened up.

[via Chaotic Moon Labs via Slash Gear]

Charles Guan is the one who rides this thing (designed, created, and built it as well), and it gets around on a pair of treads, which makes it different than wheeled boards, and lets its passenger ride off-road.  The skateboard boasts a custom drivetrain, 500-watt hours of lithium batteries inside of it, and a 1HP motor to tug you around. Top speed is 15 to 20mph, which isn’t bad.

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The LANDBEARSHARK tread skateboard still needs a remote control to function for now, but Charles thinks that once this thing is perfected, it will do without.

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[via Make:]

Scarpar has tank treads on the bottom, and it will scoot you along. The thing is motivated by an electric motor and a battery pack, and the top of the line unit can hit speeds up to 28mph (45 km/h). I’m not sure how you control the Scarpar, but I am pretty sure I would break my arm.

The last time we talked about this contraption it was mostly a concept. This time around you can actually order the Scarpar if you really want one. The Scarpar will retail from $2800 to $3800 (USD), but can be reserved for $500 to $600. The maker says it wants to gauge the interest in the board and notes that the cost varies with the capacity and strength of the battery pack. The company expects to ship the first of the Scarpar boards in December 2011.

The cases are the brainchild of Grove, who creates artisan cases, and Lindsay Jo Holmes’ MapleXO, which repurposes old skateboards for jewelry and accessories. It took about a year to slice up and sand the 300 skateboards that were used. Then, they were hand-selected for color coordination, and glued together to form the wood of the cases.

The cases themselves come packaged in bamboo boxes with the layered skateboard panels inserted into the ends. It’s a shame that these beautiful cases are limited to only 50 pieces. The cases are auctioned off on eBay starting at $200 but will fetch much higher prices the way bidding is going.

[via Designboom]

The Clear29 LT Longboard is a clear polycarbonate skateboard, accented with bright LED lights attached to its undercarriage. Because of the placement of the lights on the underside, it provides the illusion that the skate deck is literally floating above the ground – especially when viewed from the side.

The lighting is powered by a simple 9-volt battery, but they don’t mention how long the run-time should be. But since they’re power-thrifty LEDs, I’m betting you can get in a nice long ride. In addition to the LED illumination, these 29″ x 8.5″ longboards include translucent wheels with ABEC5 racing bearings, held on by 9″ Gullwing Mission trucks for a smooth ride.

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They’re available in five colors: blue, red, green, amber and white LED versions. I think they should offer a version where you can change colors yourself – or even do some sort of disco chase light sequence. But for now, you’ll have to settle for single colors. You can get your hands on the Clear29 LED skateboard over at Gadgets and Gear for $199.95 (USD).

The board was designed for an appearance Tony Hawk did in Australia. Apparently, the builders speed limited the thing so Hawk would survive the day and not ruin their event by dying. That thing looks like a death trap on wheels. Here’s a video of the skateboard being built (without Tony on it):

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I can’t even ride a normal skateboard without cracking my ass half off. Put a seat and a steering wheel on this thing though and we could go carting. That would be cool.

[via Jalopnik]

As is obvious from the pics, this is a copy of the one Marty McFly rode in Back to the Future Part II. While it can float, it can’t make you float! There’s an electromagnetic system integrated into the hoverboard which helps it to levitate.

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With advancements in technology, it seems like real hoverboards shouldn’t be that far away, I doubt that we’ll be seeing any on the streets any time soon. That’s too bad. I’ve always loved the hoverboard and I have always wanted one.

[via Ufunk]

Pro skater Chad Knight and Fuel TV host Jeff King test if the iPad is ride-worthy, and yes it is. Kind of. Apple fanboys, LOOK AWAY. This is going to be nasty.

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Knight’s balancing skills are impressive. The iPad’s weight-bearing skills, erm, not so much.

[via Mashable]

Then along came Altered with their crazy self-propelled electric skateboards.

With models ranging from the off-road capable Green Machine 2.0 to the more traditional looking zebrawood Big Dream, each board has a unique personality.

Most models run on a hefty 36-volt rechargeable battery pack, which powers a belt-driven electric motor. While you’re in motion, you can adjust your speed using a wireless handheld throttle control.

The high-end (600-watt) models can hit 19 to 20 MPH without breaking a sweat, while the entry-level Wombat (250-watt) tops out at 12 MPH.

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Prices range from $599 to $799 for the beefy 600-watt models, with the 250-watt Wombat selling for just $399. Altered just recently took the wraps off their 2009 editions and expects to start shipping most models before the holidays. You can check out the full line over at Altered Electric Skateboards.

LEGO artist extraordinaire Nathan Sawaya’s recent project is this super sweet LEGO skateboard. It’s actual size, and based on the close-up picture of the wheels I’m going to go out on a limb and say it’s not actually ride-able.

According to the artist, his inspiration came about thusly: “My friend recently bought a new deck and it only took me a few seconds of staring at it before I realized what my next project would be. I didn’t want to imitate any particular design, so I came up with my own. I call it my NATEboard. Because my name is Nate. And it sounds like skateboard. And I’m lonely.”

It seems hard to believe that a guy with such insane LEGO talents could ever be lonely. Seriously, there must be tons of girls who would love to meet a bricksmith of this caliber, right?

You can see more of Nate’s Lego projects at The Art of the Brick.

[via ChipChick]

Gameplay takes place in an unusual top-down view. You control the game by placing two fingertips onto the skateboard’s surface and flicking the board around to do tricks. Sounds weird, right? Just imagine your two fingers as tiny little legs (dangling from the torso of a teensy little Tony Hawk) standing on the surface of the skateboard, and it starts to make a lot more sense. To see the game in action, check out this video clip:

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Now if only I could get that awful, generic video game guitar rock out of my head. Eeesh. Hopefully that won’t make the final cut. Anyhow… The game is being built on a 3D physics engine which gives you the freedom to create your own tricks with a flick of your fingertips. Touch Grind will also feature an online level editor, which will allow community members to create and share their own skate parks.

The game’s maker, Sweden’s Illusion Labs (the same guys who brought us the superfluous iPint beer simulator) claims to be the first game to take full advantage of the system’s multitouch screen. While I’m not sure of the accuracy of that claim, it does look like a quirky little game, and should be worth checking out when it hits the iTunes App Store this October.

This is recycling at it’s best. Thin strips of reclaimed skate decks are artfully layered to create a unique and colorful watch. It would make the perfect accessory for the erstwhile punk teen turned corporate bad-a$$.

And then there’s the actual, you know, watch part: super stylish analog display, with Japanese quartz movement and LEDs for nighttime time-telling. It’s not waterproof, but I’m betting you didn’t expect it to be.

You can see the tear sheet and look at a couple more close-ups of the watch here. It’s not for sale yet, but you can drool over/purchase previous Nixon Rotolog series watches at the Nixon website.

[via Kris Lovett]

Whether you’re just a hot shot and want to show off your moves, or you’re sick of taking a face plant on the curb when skating in the dark, the LED skateboards are sure to draw attention. Depending on the model, you’ll get anywhere from 29 to 54 bright LEDs embedded into the wood deck.

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The boards are fabricated out of Canadian 7-ply hard-rock maple, and include grip tape and a thin lithium ion rechargeable batter mounted under a protective plate on the bottom of the board.

Photon sells Light Boards either as a standalone deck, or as a complete skateboard with trucks and wheels. Prices range from $110 for a deck to $200 for a fully-outfitted skateboard.

[via Geekologie]

The little camera straps onto any helmet and can be aimed with a laser-targeting system. Press one button, and it’ll record your hijinx onto an SD memory card (the cam includes an anemic 32MB card, but memory cards are cheap these days). Resolution isn’t thrilling at a maximum 640×480, but what do you expect for 50 bucks? The camera also has a built in microphone to record sound and can transfer videos to your PC via the helmet cam’s USB port.

I can’t wait to get one of these and strap it to my cat.

[via Video Thing]

Here’s a video of the robot in action:

PLEN’s 18 joints can be controlled remotely using a Bluetooth phone and can run for about 25 minutes on a single charge. Created by Systec Akazawa, PLEN is available from Plen Japan for 262,500 Yen (appx. $2220 USD)

[via thisnext]