Self-lacing shoes from Back to the Future comes alive
Nike prepares to launch shoes from future, as portrayed on a classic sci-fi action movie, Back to the Future. After securing the patent for its self-lacing shoes, the shoes will be ready to enter the market in the near future.
The movie "Back to the Future" was known for creating trends back in the 80s. For years, researchers have tried to invent a hoverboard, a levitating skateboard that was used as a transportation in the film.
More than that, the movie also accurately predicted a number of technologies that will exist in 2015. Some of which are the flat screen TV, fingerprint scanner, video chat, and wearable gadget.
Nike announced the arrival of self-lacing shoes after a series of teasers in social media. As Mashable reported, the shoe-lacing mechanism is "an individually responsive system that senses the wearer's motion to provide adaptive on-demand comfort and support."
The first recipient of this new shoes is none other than Michael J. Fox, the star of the movies. ABC News reported that Nike's shoe designer, Tinker Hartfield sent the shoes with a note saying "we wanted you to be the first to receive a living pair,"
However, there is no confirmation from Nike of when the actual shoes will be available in the market.
The Wired reported that in 2011, Nike released 1,510 pairs of sneakers based on the Back to the Future movie, but without the self-lacing technology.
The limited edition shoes was aimed to help Michael J. Fox Foundation raise fund research projects on Parkinson's disease. It raised more than $4 million in an auction via eBay.
Michael J. Fox is a Canadian actor and was first famous from a TV series Family Ties in 1980's. In 1991, he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. Michael J. Fox never revealed his condition to the public until 1998.
As his condition got worse, he retired from acting and actively advocated research for Parkinson's disease.
Nike as a creator of the original idea of self-lacing shoes tried to secure its technology by filing a patent request for the self-lacing mechanism in 2010. The US Patent Office has granted the patent application last year.