I am old enough to remember the release of Back the Future 2, I watched it at the cinema with my mum, we then went for McDonalds later and ended the day with mum buying me my first pair of Nike basketball boots. The whole day felt super American (although we were in Manchester at the time).
One of my all time favourite movies. I never thought I’d see those Nike sneakers IRL though!
I have noticed sneaker tech getting more interesting over the last couple of years but I haven’t seen anything yet that has made we want to invest in a pair.
There is ‘Adaptive Lacing’, Under Armour’s SpeedForm Gemini 3 has a wide array of smart sensors installed in the soles with GPS and other biometric sensors, Gemini 3 sneakers can track your miles, jumping level, workout plans, routes taken, jogging metrics, and so on.
I am not sure I would ever remember to charge my sneakers though 🙈
How do you feel about sneaker tech? With most pricing being north of $500, have their been any current or future innovations that would want to make you invest in a pair?
Personally I feel that something that could track my posture would be good, detect over time if I am walking or standing in a certain way that might effect my knees, hips or feet in the future.
Top comments (16)
I hope shoe companies continue to experiment with materials and adding more sensors for capturing useful data. I haven't seen anything in the $200-500 range that made me think "there is a lot of value here, this is a must have". I also think there is a big opportunity for innovation in sneaker authentication technology. When people decide to flip sneakers there is always that question of "are these actually original or am I getting scammed".
Hmmmmm “sneaker authentication technology” < sounds very interesting!
StockX has become very popular and they ask sellers to send the sneakers to them first for authentication before sale is final and shipping to buyer. I've read some complaints online with buyers claiming that even after this method of authentication they have received fake sneakers.
A blockchain called Cardano did some testing with New Balance back in 2019 but not much has been publicly disclosed about how that experiment went. They called it the NB Realchain - App Store / Google Play
Thanks for the heads up on Stock X, I'll keep my eye on that place for sure.
Yeah I keep an eye on StockX a lot for shoe prices, and often look at my shoes and regret not selling (although wearing them is worth it!) It's like a stock market for shoes if you are into making a profit off of rare sneakers. I think they recently added an authentication centre in Europe so that the shipping and authentication process doesn't cost £50!
Previously it was all done in the USA so was worse not great for Europeans ^
I had no idea this type of thing even existed.
I really found the Nike FlyEase fascinating.
The Nike Flyease are really cool, I can't wait to see what else they do with them!
They don’t look overly expensive either 😅
Yeah me too! Seems like there is still lots of space for innovation in sneakers before sensors start getting involved 🕶
Whoaaaaaaaa these look amazing. 👟
Shut up and take my money!
I would totally invest in a pair, just because I have problems with my knee and doing runs/squats/lunges (or anything legs) gives me sharp pains. If I can track when my posture begins to falter (and I put unnecessary pressure on the knee), that could help.
If I did not have such issues, then I would not necessarily view this as a worthy investment 💰.
What do you think @olly - I know you like your Yezzy! I can imagine @ben is also into some cool sneakers.
Oh yeah I'm a massive 'sneaker head' 😂. The new technology being introduced with shoes is really awesome. The Back To The Future Nike's will set you back about $10,000 or $40,000 depending on the release year though! I'd like to see more done with self-lacing shoes and the Nike Flyease shoes are definitely ahead of the game with slip-on technology.