Footwear and apparel giant Nike recently unveiled a new line of sneakers with shoelaces that can be controlled with your iPhone. Here is a breakdown of the new Nike Adapt BB features:
Design
The Adapt BB shoes feature wireless connectivity and a custom motor and gear train that senses the tension needed by the foot and makes adjustments based on the size. You can tighten or loosen the shoes using buttons on the side. Or you can do it via the Android or iOS app.
Nike pointed out that the right fit from a performance shoe is personal and complicated. For example, over the course of a basketball game, the foot expands almost a half-size during play. So a level of fit that feels comfortable at one point may feel constrictive minutes later. The tensile strength of the underfoot lacing can pull 32 pounds of force (roughly equal to a standard parachute cord) to secure the foot throughout a range of movement.
“We picked basketball as the first sport for Nike Adapt intentionally because of the demands that athletes put on their shoes,” said Nike VP Creative Director of Innovation Eric Avar. “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.”
The Adapt BB shoe utilizes Nike’s FitAdapt technology for different settings. With the Nike Adapt app or by manual touch, players can input different fit settings depending on different moments of a game. For example, players can loosen the shoe during a timeout or tighten it as they re-enter the game. In an upcoming feature, users can prescribe a different tightness setting for warm-ups. And players can opt in to FitAdapt firmware updates as it rolls out.
Testing Process
Nike put the Adapt BB through rigorous tests such as impact tests, intense temperatures, and end-of-life tests that lasted tens of thousands of cycles long and waterproof tests to simulate sweaty feet. Here are some of the numbers:
Then several athletes were invited to Nike World Headquarters in Oregon to test it out including Boston Celtics small forward Jayson Tatum. They tested the shoes out in a series of workouts and pickup games.
Price
The retail price of the Adapt BB is $350. And the shoes will be available for purchase next month.
