WalkCar vehicle turns a laptop cover into a magic carpet ride

While Lexus teases us with hard to obtain hoverboards, a more practical kind of futuristic skateboard has been unveiled by an inventor in Japan: the WalkCar.

About the size and shape of a standard laptop computer, the electric mobility device moves like a Segway by changing direction in response to your shifting weight, and can easily fit inside of a backpack or briefcase.

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Composed of aluminum and powered by lithium batteries, the tiny mobility device was developed by Kuniako Saito, according to a report from Reuters.

"I thought, 'what if we could just carry our transportation in our bags, wouldn't that mean we'd always have our transportation with us to ride on?'" Saito told the news site. "[M]y friend asked me to make one, since I was doing my masters in engineering specifically on electric car motor control systems."

Watching the WalkCar in action reveals a device that can power you up steep hills, push another person in a wheelchair and even navigate a tight obstacle course. Other than requiring a solid ability to balance on a tiny platform,

the only drawback of the WalkCar appears to be the loud sound its motor makes when in operation

Details about how long the device's battery will last haven’t been revealed, but even if the charge is limited, this 21st century "magic carpet" looks like the perfect solution for traversing long city blocks.

And while the WalkCar's tiny wheels look somewhat delicate, one demonstration video (top video) shows the device making its way over bumps in the road with little difficulty.

Priced at 100,000 Japanese yen (roughly $800) the device is set to be ready for the public in the spring of 2016. The company behind the device, Tokyo-based Cocoa Motors, will launch a Kickstarter campaign soon, with pre-orders beginning in October.