Sorry Marty McFly, but you were a year off on the release of the Nike self-tying shoe. The sportswear manufacturer has (finally) officially launched the shoe that we’ve been waiting for for 31 years.
Called the HyperAdapt 1.0, the Nike self-tying shoe is pretty similar to the original concept shown in Back to the Future II, even going so far as to place a blue light on the sole of the shoe.
To get the shoes to tie, Nike has built a pressure-sensitive pad into the heel of the shoe, which will activate the lacing mechanism once the wearer’s foot hits it.
Of course, it’s unlikely to be a perfect fit, which is why the shoe also allows you to press a button to adjust the tightness of the entire shoe – definitely not a form of tying your shoe laces.
Leading the shoe’s design team was Nike’s Senior Innovator, Tiffany Beers, who had wanted to take the idea of a self-tying shoe without simply replicating what we’ve already seen.
Prototypes were being built throughout 2013, until Beers and her team were assigned to create a working replica of the Back to the Future II shoes for the movie’s 30th anniversary, eventually contributing to the release of the HyperAdapt 1.0.
The Nike team still envisages major changes to the shoe in the future, however, with the shoe’s designer, Tinker Hatfield, saying that the eventual goal is a shoe that knows when to tighten and loosen on-the-go.
So, the obvious question is, how do you get your hands on one?
While no price has been announced for the shoes, Nike says they will be made available ahead of Christmas this year in black, silver and white. Only those signed up to the company’s Nike+ service will be able to get them.
