Sports lovers are in for innovative self- lacing sneakers this holiday season with the HyperAdapt 1.0, confirmed the US sportswear giant at its ‘Innovation 2016’ event yesterday.
According to the company, the laces tighten when your feet hit a sensor built into the shoe. There are two buttons on the side to loosen and tighten them for the perfect fit.
“We’ve entered a new era of personalised performance,” said Mark Parker, Nike’s president and CEO. “Today, athletes want more than just a dash board. They want a relationship.”
The self-lacing shoes have been designed by legendary sneaker designer Tinker Hatfield and Tiffany Beers, Nike’s senior innovator, who’s worked on the Nike Air Mag and Nike Air Yeezy.
HyperAdapt 1.0 is the first performance vehicle for Nike’s latest platform breakthrough - adaptive lacing. The shoe translates deep research in digital, electrical and mechanical engineering into a product designed for movement.
It challenges traditional understanding of fit, proposing an ultimate solution to individual idiosyncrasies in lacing and tension preference.
The innovators were tasked with figuring out how to engineer self-lacing sneakers to meet ‘Back to the Future’s’ fictional release day last year.
Nike made one pair of the self-lacing Nike ‘Mag’ for Michael J Fox - the actor who played Marty McFly in the film, which they are planning to auction to support his non-profit organisation for Parkinson’s.
“It is amazing to consider a shoe that senses what the body needs in real-time. That eliminates a multitude of distractions, including mental attrition, and thus truly benefits performance,” Mr. Hatfield said.
“Could it take you even tighter than you’d normally go if it senses you really need extra snugness in a quick maneuver? That’s where we’re headed. In the future, product will come alive,” he added.
HyperAdapt 1.0 is currently manual (i.e athlete controlled) but it makes feasible the concept of an automated, nearly symbiotic relationship between the foot and shoe.
It will be available only to members of Nike+ beginning Holiday 2016 in three colours.
