Rollerboard brings `hoverboards` to Philadelphia

October 7, 2015
UVM: 3,525,195
Rollerboard brings 'hoverboards' to Philadelphia Finally, a technological advancement that sci-­‐fi writers back in the ’80s predicted we’d have by now. Well, kind of. Hoverboards have hit the streets with a vengeance, popularized by such celebrities as Wiz Khalifa. Suddenly, it’s nearly impossible to stroll through any city without seeing young people gliding around on the things. These funky apparitions aren’t exactly the floating boards Back to the Future predicted when Marty McFly was transported from 1985 to Oct. 21, 2015 (though the filmmakers were eerily prescient in their timing). And while there are products in development that truly hover — like the Lexus board, which uses magnetic levitation and a special track — most people can’t own one. October 7, 2015
UVM: 3,525,195
So, to get their futuristic on, the masses are turning to these self-­‐balancing, battery-­‐fueled boards with two wheels on each side. Because they’re so new, precise terminology has yet to emerge. They’re often called hoverboards because of the floating illusion they create. However, they’re actually hands-­‐free scooters, sometimes referred to as smart scooters. The boards range in speed from about 6 mph up to 24 mph. There’s also the OneWheel, which has one larger wheel in the center of the board. One of the first boards on the market was the Smart S1, created by the Chinese company Chic Robotics, in 2014. Rollerboard, a Philadelphia-­‐based hoverboard company, has reaped the benefits of the trend, too. October 7, 2015
UVM: 3,525,195
Rollerboard, whose model costs about $1,000, has “seen demand go up double-­‐digit, month-­‐by-­‐month,” according to CEO Sanjay Mukherjee. The company launched in May, in Easton, Pa., but this summer moved to Pipeline, an office space at 15th and Ranstead streets. The city’s “youthful economy with a lot of millennials” attracted the company, Mukherjee said, during a product demonstration recently at Pipeline. Also present was 65-­‐year-­‐old former heavyweight boxing champion Larry Holmes, a company spokesman whose name was emblazoned on each board at the event. Holmes said he could envision the futuristic franchise as his version of fellow former boxer George Foreman’s Foreman Grill. October 7, 2015
UVM: 3,525,195
On Temple University’s campus, there are always a few students gliding around on their hoverboards in front of the Student Center, among them 22-­‐year-­‐old Eustace Hobson, who bought his for $380. “I saw them and thought, ‘This would be a really good way to get around campus,’” Hobson said. The studious hoverboard owner timed his trek to class, walking vs. hoverboard, and found he got there six minutes earlier on his board. Celebrities like Justin Bieber, Chris Brown and, perhaps most infamously, Wiz Khalifa have been seen using their boards as more than transportation. Posting videos to Instagram, Brown and the Biebs piqued their fans’ interest early on. In August, rapper Khalifa was detained at Los Angeles International Airport when he allegedly refused to dismount his board. He documented this interaction on Twitter, garnering support and encouraging conversation about the safety and usability of the boards. October 7, 2015
UVM: 3,525,195
Are scooter boards the next transportation-­‐toy that safety authorities will clash with the youth over? “I think there’s a little bit of a disconnect simply because the product is new,” Mukherjee said. “Right now there’s no regulation, and I hope there isn’t any at all.” Philadelphia defers to state regs when it comes to hands-­‐free scooters, said Aaron Ritz, of the Mayor’s Office of Transportation and Utilities. They’re prohibited on freeways but allowed elsewhere, as long as riders “obey the rules of the road.” "While hands-­‐free scooters or 'hoverboards' are innovative and new," Ritz said in an email, " we encourage riders to follow the age old standard of common sense and common courtesy while using them." Hoverboards are often categorized alongside skateboards, scooters and even Segways, sometimes called the hoverboard’s predecessor. Police officers and mall security guards commonly use Segways to get around. Philadelphia Segway Tours leads tourists around on them. The difference between the more accepted Segways and these new boards, Mukherjee said, lies in the marketing and the price. Segways will put you out anywhere from about $4,000 to $12,000 and are used solely for transportation. A quick Google Shopping search for a “hoverboard,” however, displayed a “Smart Self Balancing Electric Scooter Unicycle 2 Wheels Hover Board” for just $236 on eBay. Higher-­‐end hands-­‐free hoverboards cost upward of $1,500. Rollerboard falls on the more expensive spectrum but is incentivized, Mukherjee said, by a 12-­‐month warranty, two-­‐day shipping and the company’s ability to make in-­‐house repairs. October 7, 2015
UVM: 3,525,195
Segways are utility while their youth-­‐driven cousins are used more for entertainment, said Mukherjee. “I use it for everything,” Hobson said. And he meant it. Hobson cooks, washes clothes and takes out the trash — all while riding his hoverboard. Careful not to allow his month-­‐old technology leap to get in the way of his health, Hobson still tries to stay active. “I don’t want it to affect me physically, ” he said. “It can low-­‐key make you get fat.” So he plays basketball. In fact, he was going to McGonigle Hall to hit the courts after an interview. How was he getting there? Why, by hoverboard, of course. “It’s just fun,” Mukherjee said of his product. “I think it’s a product that can become a sport.” An extreme sport. Like rollerblading or snowboarding. You may catch these wheeled hoverboards in the next X Games. Anything’s possible. While Mukherjee recognizes that cost may deter some Rollerboard enthusiasts, he hopes to alleviate this economic barrier by forming a partnership with a local skating rink to rent boards. “We’re not in this to make a quick buck,” Mukherjee said. “We’re in it for the long haul.” October 7, 2015
UVM: 3,525,195