Rejoice Back to the Future fans and/or lazy people. It’s unlikely that one kick hoverboards will exist in our (or our children’s) short lifetime but self-lacing sneakers are a distinct possibility sometime soon. To wit, a few months back sneaker freak Blake Bevin unveiled a prototype for the fabled power laces featured in Back to the Future II, a self-lacing shoe system that’s as eye-catching as it is convenient.
You can watch a demo video of the initial prototype below. Definitely cool if a bit clunky.
A few days ago Bevin unveiled a second prototype with a few design improvements on the clunkiness of her initial model. Firstly the lacing mechanism is hidden within the heel. Also, the “power lace” mechanism is triggered by a sensor in the heel, making the lacing automatic once weight is applied to the sole. Check it out below…
Unfortunately Bevin has absolutely no affiliation with Nike so it’s doubtful that the prototype will ever go into production. As far as Nike is concerned, back in 2008 they released The McFly 2015, a replica of Marty McFly’s sneakers in BTTF2. Unfortunately the model didn’t have power lacing abilities but Nike have since filed a power lacing patent which you can read here. I don’t really care who perfects the technology first (though it would be awesome if Bevin bested Nike’s scientists), I’m just happy that two separate parties are taking active steps to making all my nerd dreams come true.
