Nike has unveiled new shoes with self-tying shoelaces like Marty McFly's robotic sneakers in the second Back to the Future movie. The athletic shoe giant just introduced the world's first self-lacing footwear at a New York event. The HyperAdapt 1.0 running shoes are scheduled to hit the retail market later this year.
One of the biggest differences of the HyperAdapt shoes is that they do not have any traditional laces. Instead they have built-in actuators that work with pressure monitors that apply the sneakers' cushions to the wearer's foot shape, according to Digital Trends.
Tiffany Beers is Nike's senior innovation chief. She said in a press release that when a person steps into the robot shoes a sensor causes the footwear's system to automatically tighten.
Nike's smart shoes can then be adjusted to fine-tune the footwear's settings. Beers explains that two buttons on the side of the sneakers can be used to make them tighter or looser.
The athletic shoe company shared that HyperAdapt is the result of years of research. It is based on a concept by Tinker Hatfield who also developed the Air Jordan basketball shoes and Air Max shoe line worn by LeBron James and Charles Barkley.
Hatfield teamed up with Nike chief Mark Parker over five years ago to develop the self-tightening shoes. One of the biggest challenges was developing the tiny electronics needed to power and control the footwear.
The first prototype was a pair of snowboard boots. Nike filed a 2009 patent application for an Automated Lacing System that tightened around the wearer's ankle.
In 2013 Hatfield and Beers started making shoe prototypes that used different lacing systems. They one they decided on laced up the shoes from the bottom-up. The robot sneakers were unveiled in October 2015 when a pair was sent to 'Back to the Future" star Michael J. Fox.
The hoverboard is another futuristic gadget from the science fiction film series that has been turned into a real product. Last August Lexus released a video that showed pro skateboarder Ross McGouran giving the floating board a test ride, according to People. It contains high temperature storage life (HTSL) blocks and the wheel-free board floats over a track with permanent magnets.
Here's "Back to the Future" tech that's been turned into real products: