by Jason Snell
Nike’s new self-lacing, Bluetooth-powered shoes
I think there is literally nobody more qualified on this planet to write about Nike’s new Bluetooth-connected self-lacing basketball shoes than Matthew Panzarino, who is a shoe fiend and the editor of TechCrunch. Panzer’s got the details:
Why does the world need a self-lacing shoe? Haven’t you heard of Velcro? How will you tie your shoes when the Wi-Fi is down?
That’s the gist of the instant response I got when I mentioned the new Adapt BB, a shoe from Nike with, yes, powered laces that tighten to a wearer’s foot automatically. The shoe is an evolution of the Nike HyperAdapt 1.0, which is itself a commercialization of the Air Mag — a self-lacing vanity project that realized the self-lacing shoes mocked up for Back to the Future II.
The reality is that this shoe solves a problem for pro basketball players today, but it also suggests a future where your shoes tighten automatically, when you put your feet in them, monitor your movement and send data back to your smartphone or other device, and automatically adjust fit based on how you’re moving and even if your feet are swelling.
This article’s a deep dive that does a great job at explaining what this shoe is for today and what it means for the future of footwear. I expected nothing less of Matthew Panzarino.