The two-wheeled “hoverboards” are getting a well-deserved bad rap.

There have been many cases of them blowing up or catching on fire, and they seem to be quite hard to control. The worst part is, rolling around on two wheels isn’t “hovering”.

However, there are companies that are actually designing and creating real, working hoverboards.

Philippe Maalouf, Canadian entrepreneur and CEO of Omni Hoverboards, told CNN, “I’m watching all these reports saying ‘hoverboard’ with a straight face, and it’s not. I was like, are people aware that this board is not even hovering? It’s on wheels!”

Omni has developed and is currently developing a hoverboard that actually flies. By 2017 they hope to release an official prototype. Currently, the controller stands on a platform with tiny helicopter blades below that pushes one into the air. Last summer, their early prototype traveled nine-hundred and five feet, thus breaking the Guinness World Record for the farthest ride on a hoverboard.

Maalouf also said, In other flying vehicles, “you feel like you’re riding on the back of a dragon. But on the Omni you feel like it’s (truly) you who’s flying. And that’s new. That’s the innovation.”

Another company in the “true hoverboard” business is AcraBoard. Their model is fifty-seven inches long and six inches thick. It flies above thirty-six high power electric ducted fans and is controlled via phone app. It only flies about a foot off the ground at a speed of twelve miles per hour. Also, it can only be ridden for six minutes before it has to charge for around six hours.

While these hoverboards are certainly groundbreaking and innovative, there are still many issues that need to be worked out.

One issue is cost. These hoverboards currently cost or are estimated to be anywhere from $19,000- $50,000 because they are serious products and most definitely aren’t toys. The engineers behind it all are trying to innovate the worlds of sports, policing, military use, and transportation.

“Someday maybe you could commute to work with one of these things,” said Maalouf. “They might also be used to inspect bridges or as FEMA rescue vehicles, to pluck people from dangerous flood waters.”

Another issue is power. The boards can’t fly for very long because they need a lightweight power system. As of right now, these systems batteries don’t last long enough to make the boards useful.

“The hoverboard is not going to solve the world’s problems, and that’s what we’re focused on around here,” said Greg Henderson, co-founder of Arx Pax.

Arx Pax is based in Silicon Valley and currently are working on their company, Hendo Boards which sold ten hoverboards on Kickstarter for $10,000 each in less than twenty-four hours.

Henderson isn’t looking for a new fad. He truly wants to find a new, faster, and more efficient method of transportation.

“Our technology can all share the same infrastructure,” Henderson said. “A single person, or a train with a thousand people could take advantage of this incredibly efficient low-cost, new maglev technology.”

Their boards use Magnetic Field Architecture, which simply is, a hover engine that generates a magnetic field to create an electrical current on the surface. The magnetic field and electrical currents push against each other causing the board to fly.

The real hoverboards are here, and there are many possible ways that they can benefit our society.