Four years after the release of the 2015 Nike Mags — the self-lacing shoes from Back to the Future Part II donned by Michael J. Fox’s character — Nike has released Bluetooth-enabled, self-lacing basketball shoes.

Back in 2016, Nike further advanced custom fit technology by introducing the HyperAdapt 1.0, which became the first consumer-grade sneaker to feature power lacing. And now they’ve released the Adapt BB — the BB stands for “basketball.” They’re an auto-lacing, app-controlled basketball shoe that’s loaded technological advancements.

As you might expect, it contains a smart motor that automatically adjusts the lacing system to fit perfectly around your foot as soon as you put the shoe on. The company obviously wants to fundamentally change footwear and, of course, sell more shoes.

“We picked basketball as the first sport for Nike Adapt intentionally because of the demands that athletes put on their shoes,” says Eric Avar, Nike VP Creative Director of Innovation.

“During a normal basketball game the athlete’s foot changes and the ability to quickly change your fit by loosening your shoe to increase blood flow and then tighten again for performance is a key element that we believe will improve the athlete’s experience.” 

While the Adapt BB is smart enough to sense the tension your feet need on its own, you can also adjust pressure from the laces using two physical buttons on your left and right shoes — one is for tightening and the other for loosening them.

However, if you want to take things beyond manual touch, you can control it with an iOS or Android app; you can adjust your power laces without having to touch your basketball shoes at all. It works by swiping up (tighten) or down (loosen) in the settings that are aptly labeled “L” or “R.”

As well as adjusting tension, the app allows you to change the colour of your LEDs and check battery life. Nike says the sneakers can last up to 14 days on a full charge, though that’ll depend on how much time you spend messing around with the power laces.

However, you wont be stuck in your basketball shoes if the battery dies, as Nike says they’re smart enough to save energy for loosening the laces. To charge them up, you’ll place them on a custom Qi wireless mat that Nike’s including with every pair which take approximately three hours to fully charge.

The brand aspires to introduce this FitAdapt technology to more sports and lifestyle products in future. But for now, the Adapt BB will drop on February 17th for a hefty price of CDN$465. 

Source: https://news.nike.com/news/nike-adapt-bb