Nike's Creative Director Says Nike's No-Lace $350 Shoes May Be the Future
*By Carlo Versano*
Marty McFly's self-lacing sneakers from "Back to the Future" are here at last. Kind of.
Nike on Tuesday launched the Adapt BB, its first mass-market "smart" sneaker, that uses elastic mesh and a small internal motor with Bluetooth connectivity to allow the wearer to tighten and loosen the fit of the shoe via a smartphone app.
Eric Avar, creative director for Nike, told Cheddar in an interview that the innovations that made the Adapt BB possible were simply the latest step in Nike's mission: "Solving problems for athletes."
Nike stock has outperformed the broader market, even despite tariff concerns, based in part on its track record of sneaker innovation.
The adaptive performance of the sneaker ー it has a "comfort" mode and a "high-performance lockdown" mode with custom fittings ー will help athletes perform better "in the moment," Avar said. "That's our singular focus."
Avar said Nike chose to make a "smart" basketball sneaker first so it could be tested by real players under the harsh conditions of the court. Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics helped Nike unveil the sneaker.
Once it is proven to handle the physical demands of basketball players, Avar said it's possible the technology could be used to create adaptive models for running or other use cases.
And while building a better sneaker remains the primary focus for now, he said the possible applications for the "smart" technology are much broader, and could potentially result in Nike sending some useful personal data back to athletes and casual wearers.
"It's a journey, and we're going to see where it takes us," he said.
The Adapt BB will be available online Feb. 17 for $350, making them far more expensive than the top basketball sneakers on the market, but still less than half the price of the first iteration, the 2016 Hyperadapt.
Astronauts will have to wait until next year before flying to the moon and another few years before landing on it. NASA on Tuesday announced the latest round of delays in its Artemis moon-landing program.
The Biden administration has enacted a new labor rule that aims to prevent the misclassification of workers as independent contractors. The labor department rule going into effect Tuesday replaces a scrapped Trump-era standard that lowered the bar for classifying employees as contractors
The KC-46 was to be the ideal candidate for a fixed-price development program. Instead, it has cost Boeing billions, and made industry wary of such deals.
Dave Long, CEO and Co-Founder of Orangetheory Fitness joins Cheddar to chat trends in the industry for 2024. He updates us on the company's plans to expand and what the state of the economy has meant for business.
One of the world's largest renewable energy developers will be getting hundreds of wind turbines from General Electric spinoff GE Vernova as part of a record equipment order and long-term service deal.
A moon landing attempt by a private US company appears doomed because of a fuel leak on the newly launched spacecraft. Astrobotic Technology managed to orient the lander toward the sun Monday so its solar panel could capture sunlight and charge its onboard battery.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has announced that 100,000 businesses have signed up for a new database that collects ownership information intended to help unmask shell company owners. Yellen says the database will send the message that “the United States is not a haven for dirty money.”
A new version of the federal student aid application known as the FAFSA is available for the 2024-2025 school year, but only on a limited basis as the U.S. Department of Education works on a redesign meant to make it easier to apply.
