Seismic protectionMaking building hover to protect them from earthquake

Los Gatos California-based Arx Pax, creator of the Hendo Hoverboard and Magnetic Field Architecture (MFA), yesterday announced that it is integrating the ShakeAlert earthquake early-warning software into its patented three-part foundation system, which the company says is a more cost effective means of decoupling an object or building from the earth to provide real protection against earthquakes, floods, and sea-level rise. As part of this collaboration, Arx Pax will work to ensure the scientific efficacy of MFA specifically for seismic protection. A ShakeAlert demonstration of the Napa, CA 2014 earthquake can be viewed here.

“The ShakeAlert program aligns well with our long-term vision,” said Greg Henderson, co-founder and CEO at Arx Pax. “Weaving ShakeAlert into our MFA seismic isolation solution provides a valuable new tool to architects, engineers, and developers who are looking for a better way to build in areas affected by earthquakes. Our goal is to eliminate structural movement by pinpointing the exact time an object or building’s ‘landing gear’ should retract and activate the hover engines.”

With funding from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and a grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, a consortium of universities developed ShakeAlert rapidly to detect earthquakes and send secure alerts. Arx Pax says that structures, equipment, and systems designed with Arx Pax’s MFA isolation technology, may now be decoupled from the earth’s movement in a moment’s notice. ShakeAlert uses the geophysical networks operated by University of California Berkeley, California Institute of Technology, University of Washington, and the USGS, which has successfully detected California earthquakes and predicted the shaking before it could be felt.

“Arx Pax’s new MFA base isolation technology combined with the ShakeAlert early-warning system will allow state-of-the-art seismic protection and vibration control for buildings, operating rooms, highly calibrated instruments and much more,” said Dr. Jennifer Strauss, external relations officer at Berkeley Seismological Laboratory. “We are excited by the collaboration and vision Arx Pax has to offer.”

Arx Pax notes that this collaboration is in line with the public/private partnership that California Office of Emergency Services is fostering as the organization manages the implementation of California’s plan for earthquake early warning.

— Read more in Daniel Terdiman, “New Technology Claims It Can “Hover” Buildings Before Earthquakes,” Fast Company (4 June 2015); Aaron Tilley, “Architect’s Dream Of Levitating Houses Turns Into A Hoverboard,” Forbes (21 October 2014)