power laces
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Nike’s Adapt Huarache are self-lacing sneakers you’ll actually want to wear
This probably isn't shocking to anyone who knows me, but I love sneakers perhaps too much for my own good. So when Nike introduced the Adapt BB with power laces earlier this year, I was pretty intrigued: It brought two of my favorite worlds together, sneakers and technology. But for me, the problem with the Adapt BBs is that they're designed to be a performance basketball shoe, meaning they're bulky and not something I could wear every day. Now Nike has created the Adapt Huarache, a reimagined version of a classic lifestyle sneaker from 1991, which also features its FitAdapt self-lacing technology.
Nike designer Tinker Hatfield makes the case for self-lacing shoes
Tinker Hatfield made people jump off their seat at a SXSW 2019 panel. Literally. The legendary Nike designer, who's behind the Air Max and most iconic Air Jordans, took off the sneakers he wore to the stage and gave them away to one lucky person in the crowd. Then, to top it all off, Hatfield put on a pair of yet-to-be-released Nike Reacts -- no big deal. But he didn't come to Austin just to hype up sneakerheads. During his session, Hatfield of course talked about the Nike Mag, HyperAdapt and Adapt BB, the three self-lacing shoes he has designed for the sportswear giant.
Nike teases Back to the Future shoes, creepily leaks the contents of Marty McFly's closet (video)
What's this? Nike is rounding up shoe-nerds (and Back to the Future fans) to taunt them with futuristic metal shield glasses, 1980s candy, and a personal messages from Doc Brown? Could this shoe-filled YouTube tease (uploaded by DocEmmettBrown88) mean that Nike is bringing nerdom's coolest kicks back from the future? Probably. After all, you don't patent power-laces just to make a normal shoe, do you? [Thanks, Rob]
Power Laces 2.0 ditch the external servo and retro colors, look production-ready (video)
The self-lacing Power Laces shoes have made quite a stir since we caught sight of them back in July. Creator Blake Bevin launched a Kickstarter program to actually produce the things and, working to raise the $25k in funding needed to build 'em, Blake has created a video of version 2.0 of the shoes. This time the blue and pink are gone, as are the Nike logos (perhaps to avoid trademark and patent ramifications), replaced with a cleaner though taller silver and white design. The servo that handles the laces is now hidden in the heel, and a pressure sensor starts the lacing process as soon as you put your foot in. We like that idea, but we're not sure how comfortable walking on a servo would be. Pony up $50 to join the fund and you can be among the first to find out.
Auto-lacing sneaker laces itself, is looking for a friend
In the future, even the most menial, second nature tasks will be automated, because why not? Taking a page from the book of Back to the Future II, a fashionable DIYer has gone ahead and brought a little piece of the future to us, with this autolacing sneaker. There's only one so far, but it's got a force sensor which reads the pressure of your foot when you put it in the shoe, and that activates the two servos which tighten the laces. There's also a switch to reverse the servo and loosen the laces. Check out the video of its operation below, and hit up the source if you want to make one (or two!) of your own.
