Nike reveals $350 ‘Marty McFly’ Adapt BB self lacing sneakers controlled by an app
- The Nike Adapt BB are specifically designed for basketball
- Automatically tighten or loosen with a press of the button either on shoes or app
- Range will initially go on sale only in the US for $350 dollars (£272) on Feb 17th
- Firm promises technology will be used in other shoes and sports
- The shoes are inspired by the film ‘Back to the Future Part II’ with Michael J. Fox
Nike has revealed a pair of $350 ‘Back to the Future’ sneakers with ‘power laces’ controlled from a phone.
The new Nike Adapt BB are specifically designed for basketball and automatically tighten or loosen with a press of the button either on the shoes themselves or via a smartphone.
The range will initially go on sale only in the US for $350 dollars (£272), on February 17th – although they are expected to sell out instantly.
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The new Nike Adapt BB will initially go on sale only in the US for $350 dollars (£272) on February 17th – although they are expected to sell out instantly. They are specifically designed for basketball and contain ‘power laces’ that automatically tighten or loosen with a press of the button on the shoes or via an app
Nike has said that users can programme different settings that dictate on how the laces are tied, such one setting for playing a basketball game and one for just lounging in.
The shoes will require charging, and each pair will come with a recharging mat.
‘We picked basketball as the first sport for Nike Adapt intentionally because of the demands that athletes put on their shoes,’ says Eric Avar, Nike VP Creative Director of Innovation.
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‘During a normal basketball game the athlete’s foot changes and the ability to quickly change your fit by loosening your shoe to increase blood flow and then tighten again for performance is a key element that we believe will improve the athlete’s experience.’
When a player steps into the Nike Adapt BB, a custom motor and gear train senses the tension needed by the foot and adjusts accordingly to keep the foot snug.
The sneakers are modeled on the self lacing shoes Marty Mcfly wore in Back to the Future II
The tensile strength of the underfoot lacing is able to pull 32 pounds of force (roughly equal to that of a standard parachute cord) to secure the foot.
To finalise the design, Nike’s design team invited an elite group of professional players, including Boston Celtics small forward Jayson Tatum, to Nike World Headquarters in Oregon for a run of workouts and pickup games, putting the shoe through an exhaustive trialing period.
HOW NIKE’S ‘POWER LACES’ WORK
When a player steps into the Nike Adapt BB, a custom motor and gear train senses the tension needed by the foot and adjusts accordingly to keep the foot snug.
The tensile strength of the underfoot lacing is able to pull 32 pounds of force (roughly equal to that of a standard parachute cord) to secure the foot.
The shoes will require charging, and each pair will come with a recharging mat.
‘Being one of the first athletes to wear the shoe and being picked as a representative of the future of Nike basketball means a lot,’ said Jayson Tatum.
‘That the app allows the ability to put the shoe on and touch the button, change the colors, see the percentage on the battery…it’s just cool.’
Users can programme different settings that dictate on how the laces are tied, such one setting for playing a basketball game and one for just lounging in.
Earlier this week Nike teased the self-lacing basketball trainers, which the company has suggested will be controllable from a smartphone.
The US firm posted a video to Twitter showing a number of high-profile basketball players trying on the shoes and appearing to interact with them via a phone.
Nike says the sneakers will work for 40,000 button presses, and are able to cope with 300 miles of running
The video is accompanied by the message: ‘The game will never be the same.’
The firm previously launched a limited edition pair of self-lacing shoes inspired by those worn by Michael J Fox’s character Marty McFly in the 1989 film Back to the Future Part II.
The shoes will require charging, and each pair will come with a recharging mat.
To finalise the design, Nike’s design team invited an elite group of professional players, including Boston Celtics small forward Jayson Tatum, to Nike World Headquarters in Oregon
Nike confirmed at the end of 2018 it was planning on releasing more self-lacing trainers.
The latest shoes would be the first from the company that pair with a smartphone to control the laces, though the mechanics of the connection remains unknown.
The trainers themselves are not shown in the promotional video of the shoes released by Nike. It only shows the basketball players trying them on, and their reactions to the lacing up
The video shows Sacramento Kings player De’Aaron Fox using an iPhone and at one point asking ‘so, I can connect this to my phone?’ before appearing to tie one of the shoes via the device.
Nike has previously experimented with the technology, having launched a range of range of automatically lacing shoes in its HyperAdapt range in 2016.
Nike revealed just a few months into 2016 that it would finally be bringing Marty McFly’s iconic sneakers to life, just a year after Back To The Future predicted.
The company unveiled the Nike HyperAdapt 1.0, which automatically tighten when the wearer’s heel hits a sensor.
Nike has said that users can programme different settings that dictate on how the laces are tied, such one setting for playing a basketball game and one for just lounging in.
This apparatus was first used in celebration of ‘Back to the Future Day,’ – October 21, 2015, as mentioned in the movie’s sequel – when Michael J. Fox was presented a pair of self-lacing Nike Mag sneakers
MICHAEL J. FOX TRIES ON MARTY MCFLY STYLE SELF-LACING SHOES
Michael J. Fox, who played the beloved character in the film franchise, was gifted the first pair of self-lacing Nike Mag shoes on Back to the Future Day, October 21, 2015.
During Back to the 1989 film Future Part II, Marty travels to October 21, 2015 and puts on a pair of Nike High Tops that automatically tighten and adjust to fit his feet – using so-called power laces.
A photo of the 54-year-old actor trying on the first pair of the Back to the Future-inspired sneakers was shared on Twitter on Wednesday afternoon by the Michael J. Fox Foundation For Parkinson’s Research.
Nike released a limited range of McFly’s Nike MAGs with manual laces in 2011, and earlier in 2015 – the year Back To the Future II was set in, Tinker revealed the power laces would arrive soon after.
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