Technology has finally caught up with imagination with the unveiling at the Nike Innovation Summit of the Hyper Adapt 1.0, the first trainers to feature electro adaptive reactive laces.

On Back To The Future Day, (October 21, 2015 for those of you denied a childhood) Nike unveiled a self-lacing version of the Nike Mag, the iconic sneakers gifted to Marty McFly in Back to the Future II. At the time, the power laces built into the replicas were as close the company could come to turning fiction into fact.

Thankfully, technology has finally caught up with imagination as seen at the Nike Innovation Summit for the Hyper Adapt 1.0. The trainers, slated for a December 2016 release, are the first to feature electro adaptive reactive laces (EARL). A technology that took years to realise. Essentially, the shoes will tighten when you put them on.

“Your heel will hit a sensor and the system will automatically tighten. Then there are two buttons on the side to tighten and loosen. You can adjust it until it’s perfect.”  - Tiffany Beers, Senior Innovator for the HyperAdapt 1.0

Eventually Nike envisage building all of their shoes – from FlyKnits to Air Max’s - on top of the adaptive lace system, but that may be a little way off. The Hyper Adapt 1.0 are yet to be priced, and are only going to be available to members of Nike’s reworked, self-actualisation tapping Nike+ app.