Crazed turntablists transform sneakers into sound controllers, righteous beats result (video)
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted April 16th 2010 3:18PM
posted April 16th 2010 3:18PM
We're generally quite wary of any video meant to "go viral" and "sell a lot of shoes" (or sell a lot of whatever), but from time to time something comes along and cracks our jaded shell. Case in point: the new Japanese campaign for Nike's Free Run+ running shoes sees experimental musician / DJ Daito Manabe and co. bangin' out a tune with the company's newest. The kicks are outfitted with flex sensors (which change resistance when bent), allowing some impressive control of effects via Max/MSP and Ableton Max for Live. Have you ever wanted to hear a hip-hop version of Thus Spoke Zarathustra? How about one performed on running shoes? You're in luck -- we got it for you after the break.
Win.
@Spence http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1koxVYt9GR0
@Spence
Very creative!
@Spence But do we really want our shoes to be that flimsy?
@Spiraling Shape pshh yes more comfortable i own a pair
Love the closing comments
@digitalh2o
if not, lawsuits, welcome!
Those crazy kids
I was hoping for more people like... dancing, to make the music.
@tamayoduck Why don't you post us a link to a vid of you dancing to the music?
I wanna see the Irish tap dance with these on.
Idiocy. Sorry.
nike bought a public japanese park and is kicking out the artists and homelesspeople that used to gather in that park
@fuckoff tbh idc... nike does what they want, i think what i want, that was an amazing video.
@fuckoff So Nike is cleaning up a park?
Don't see anything wrong with that, would also save the tax payers money too
@z0phi3l the thing that is wrong with that is that they are destroying a community meet up place, and turning a public park into a commercial display what would you say if apple bought the statue of liberty and turned it into a white monolith with a huge apple logo on it? Not so fun? Oh but that would save the taxpayer so much maintenance cost..
Wake up and watch the video
@fuckoff its time for you to learn the bitter truth about the world we live in. No Money No Talk. and in this case Nike has more money.
The caption at the end of the segment upset me. I was hoping for a shoe that would play my theme song as I walked down the street.
This is spectacular.
Thanks for making this Nike PR video become viral engadget :D
I am sure you get many thank$ from Nike for thi$.
@dieterk best comment ever!
@dieterk
For any other shoe... Engadget would be lame to promo but..
Nike Free are really worthy, not sure if you have ever worn them but it's not just that they are flexible they are sorta structureless.
Shoes make us weak, Free let's your foot be a foot
damn makes me seem like a Nike drone but it's just the facts
@Cy Starkman Or you could just not wear shoes if you don't want any support, save $100.
hmm... at least the disclaimers are there. Can't tell you how disappointed i was the 1st time I saw someone wearing Shox and not having those bouncing noises following him around like the commercials. False advertising, i tells ya
What sweet shop was this shot in? They must have cleaned it.
@Slimnutz
I mean Sweat.
@Slimnutz
That was japan dickhead.
@ChuckBartowski so.... one great big sweat shop (FYI, I live in Tokyo)
Using a cutoff filter on the pair he's wearing is especially awesome.
Is it just me or do the bleeps and boops not seem to match up with the actual movements of the shoes?
@propylene22 Yeah I think they just pretended the whole this really well
Cool, but would've been 100x better if they had used six musicians dancing in front of the DJs to make the music instead of just two guys bending the shoes by hand.
These are sick. Check out these other cool shoes and vote for Wheat Ridge High School.
http://vans.com/customculture/vote.html
@viking33 wtf is wheat ride? is that a new cereal?
I hate Nike for their questionable business practices, but damn do their shoes make good music. :D
This has gotta be the work W+K Tokyo Lab..... coool...
If you want to read more about the creation of this performance read:
http://createdigitalmusic.com/2010/04/16/bendable-musical-shoes-for-nike-and-how-they-were-made/#more-10598
I wonder did the concept of jacking in the shoe come from the Undisclosed Desires music video by Muse.
That's awesome.
Love the speakers - shoeboxes in a neat stack.
i want the same but with bluetooth instead of wires
Sorry. It does nothing for me.
@Bobula
Met neither. If this is what my generation is doing...well shit.
Would be totally awesome if combined with Sony 3D Smell-O-Vision
Im surprised cowbell hasn't been mentioned yet.
IT NEEDS MORE COWBELL
I've had a pair of Nike Free for about 6 months now. They're the best shoes I've ever worn. I do martial arts, tricking and parkour in them. The rest of the time I'm usually barefoot. If you're active, these shoes are for you.
That was so insanely sick!! And the shoes ain't bad either.
Hey, anybody know if they available in the US?
It's irritating when they combine fake and cool.