For Sale: Nike’s Back-to-the-Futuristic Self-Lacing Shoes

hyperadapt-shoes

Just in time to hit the pre-holiday purchasing rush, Marty McFly’s famous footwear from Back to the Future will be available to buy starting at the end of November. The HyperAdapt 1.0 is going to carry a high price tag (yet unannounced), but heck, it will lace itself, too.

Each shoe has a cable system using fishing line and a pressure sensor – when you put in, the cable tightens based on an algorithmic pressures equation. This can be further adjusted via buttons in the tongue.

super-shoes

And yes, it takes power, so LEDs in the heel light up when loosening or tightening but also as a low-battery warning. A single charge will take a few hours but last weeks and can be achieved through a clip-on charger (like the Apple Watch).

power-shoes

So why does it still have laces? Those are just for the visuals – they loosen and tighten but just reflect the hidden mechanism doing the actual loosening and tightening below. Replicas and props have been released before, but these are the real deal: they will work, even if they cost a pretty penny.

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See more in Industrial Design or under Technology. October, 2016.