If you are a fan of the 1980s “Back to the Future” film trilogy, you know all about the world vision shown in the second movie of what the future held for us. One thing fans of the movie have been waiting for is hoverboards, and the other is smart sneakers, like those Marty McFly is wearing in the movie. Nike is releasing a smart sneaker, Adapt BB, that auto-laces, similar to Marty McFly’s.
Adapt BB
Nike’s new Adapt BB smart sneaker has indeed powered laces that tighten automatically to your feet, similar to the shoes worn by Marty McFly. This is what has become of the Nike Hyper Adapt 1.0, which was based on Air Mag, a version of shoes meant to mimic the “Back to the Future” shoes.
This has been a search for a shoe not just to match a movie franchise but to also provide a shoe for basketball, where the shoe fits so well to a player’s foot, that it prevents slipping, even in the process of stopping on a dime on the court. Many professional players have their shoes laced for them before they enter the court because of that need to be so tight.
An independent study of the effectiveness of the Adapt BB on athletes has shown that the shoes really do a better lockdown, and they saw it as a real benefit that they would be able to put them on by themselves and retighten them, rather than have a coach or trainer doing it for them.
A cord and a motor is being used to replace what would normally be a set of laces to get that auto-lacing effect. There is also a wire that goes through anchors on the shoe and a battery and coil to enable induction charging.
There’s Bluetooth capability, and this allows the shoe to communicate with your smartphone. A denser foam is used in the midsole to prevent you from feeling the motor.
Once you put your foot into the shoe, a magnetic system senses your foot and tightens around it, as long as you’ve previously set up the shoe. If you haven’t worn them before, you pair them with the smartphone app and connect to your Nike+ account, and this allows you to have multiple profiles for the shoe, such as different conditions. If you’re not playing a pickup game of basketball, you wouldn’t necessarily need them so tight, in other words.
Regardless of whether you connect to the app, though, the shoe will still auto-tighten, and that’s what allows players on the court to retighten their own shoes, instead of relying on a coach or trainer.
Furthermore
While the Nike Adapt BB smart sneakers are obviously being created and marketed around athletes, the athletic shoe company knows it will appeal to non-athletes as well, that whole coolness effect. Just another shoe to go along with Air Jordans and Yeezys.
Is Nike’s smart sneaker concept something you think you might buy regardless of being an athlete? Or does the “Back to the Future” effect escape you, leaving you thinking it would be far more work than it’s worth? Add your comments below regarding what you think of the Nike Adapt BB smart sneakers.
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