The Real-Life Golden Snitch Moves A Step Closer

Introducing the HoverBall.

Japanese inventor Jun Rekimoto may have answered the prayers of Harry Potter fans everywhere.

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He has created a flying plastic ball complete with a 90-millimetre-wide drone embedded inside it.

Rekimoto and his colleagues at the University of Tokyo say the HoverBall could lead to new sports being invented.

Rekimoto Lab/University of Tokyo

The ball could also be used to alter current games, either to help the young and elderly or to enable weak players to compete fairly, as it can be slowed down and manipulated to change direction.

The invention has obviously led to suggestions it could eventually be used in the same way as the Golden Snitch in Quidditch.

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Although without the broomsticks.

At present the HoverBall is controlled remotely, but it could at a later date be programmed to follow a particular route.

Rekimoto Lab/University of Tokyo

“This ball has an ability to stay in the air, and change its location and behavior according to the sports game contexts,” the team said.

“With this technology, physical dynamics of a ball can be re-programmed by sports designers, and new ball-playing vocabularies, such as hovering, anti-gravity, proximity, or remote manipulation, can be introduced to extend the way people interact with balls.”

The ball can currently stay in the air for five minutes.

(Photo: Christopher Capozziello / Getty)

New Scientist reports the most likely use of the HoverBall will be in rehabilitation or as an aid for exercise.

We can still dream though.

(Photo:Christopher Capozziello / Getty)