Meet Adapt BB: Nike’s New iPhone-Connected, Self-Lacing Smart Sneakers

Nike Adapt Bb Credit: Nike
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Nike is already among the world’s most reputable, iconic and forward-thinking sportswear brands. But the firm (who has partnered with tech-giants like Apple to create sport-inspired tech products such as iPhone-connected NBA Jerseys and the Apple Watch Nike+) is clearly hoping to kick things up a notch with its latest product offering: the first legit pair of digitally-connected basketball (BB) sneakers.

The sneakers will connect with your iPhone or Android via Bluetooth and are the byproduct of over three-years of extensive research, testing and development at Nike — culminating in a notably high-tech basketball shoe, featuring a traditional low-top design, and tons of unique features:

Adapt BB, according to Nike, is a “performance-level” product, offering features like self-adjusting/self-tightening laces, which are fully-controllable by connected app.

“The shoe doesn’t have laces as you know them,” notes FastCompany. “You slip your foot inside, and with a squeeze of buttons hidden in the upper, or a tap of a smartphone app, a series of integrated straps wrapping around your foot will tighten down to your preferred level.”

Each sneaker features two bright, glowing, user-customizable color LED bulbs embedded within its sole, which are meant to “anthropomorphize the shoe with eyes,” but actually connect with their in-built inductive power chargers, allowing Adapt BB to run (no pun intended) for about 10-days on a single charge, according to Nike.

They also represent the company’s first footwear equipped with the unique ability to instantly adapt and change shape in ways [traditional footwear] never could. For example, by automatically tightening the shoe around your foot during an intense run, or loosening it into “slipper mode” at the end of a long day.

“We’re moving from a fixed state of performance to something more fluid and dynamic,” said Eric Avar, creative director of innovation at Nike, adding that “As long as I’ve been here at Nike [for the last 27-years and counting], this has been a conversation, and I think we’re just starting to see it come to fruition.”

Adapt BB, which will officially be available starting February 17 for a cool $350 a pair, represent Nike’s most promising “high-tech” footwear offering to date, though they follow loosely in the footsteps of the firm’s failed Nike+ training sneakers (circa 2012).

To learn more about the all-new Nike Adapt BB, or to view features, design and specifications, be sure to check out the company’s official press release. 

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