Back to Future is officially here! Nike has made the future a reality with the Nike HyperAdapt 1.0, the first performance vehicle for Nike’s latest platform – adaptive lacing. The shoe translates deep research in digital, electrical and mechanical engineering into a product designed for movement.
So How Does It Work?
“When you step in, your heel will hit a sensor and the system will automatically tighten,” according to Tiffany Beers, Senior Innovator, NIKE, Inc., and the project’s technical lead. “Then there are two buttons on the side to tighten and loosen. You can adjust it until it’s perfect.”
“It’s a platform,” Beers says, “something that helps envision a world in which product changes as the athlete changes.”
“Wouldn’t it be great if a shoe, in the future, could sense when you needed to have it tighter or looser? 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.”
In short, the Nike HyperAdapt 1.0 is the first step into the future of adaptive performance. It’s currently manual (i.e., athlete controlled) but it makes feasible the once-fantastic concept of an automated, nearly symbiotic relationship between the foot and shoe. Our conclusion – we just think they are friggin’ cool.
The Nike Hyperadapt 1.0 will be available this holiday season.