Nike Adapt BB shocks the $86 Billion footwear industry without a pair of shoelaces

Footwear is projected to generate nearly $86 Billion this year in the United States alone. It’s a market mastered by known brands, but still very hungry for fresh silhouettes and ideas.

Nike showed the world today that they are replete with ideas on where footwear might be headed. Their latest shoe release, called the Nike Adapt BB, comes equipped with technology that should, in theory, offer more customization to a shoe’s fit than ever before.

Put your foot in the Adapt BB and it will automatically sense its volume and close around it. You control the fit further with buttons on the side of each shoe, or you can do it via sliders on an app.

Marc Bain,  Quartz

The Nike Adapt BB builds upon self-lacing technology they’ve developed, and released, with two other shoes in the past. Except now, the lacing mechanism wraps around the bottom of the foot and back of the heel for more comprehensive squeeze.

What’s particularly interesting is that they have their sights set on the basketball market (hence, BB). This is going to be a tough training ground for this technology since it’s a sport that truly pushes shoes to the limits — with all the sharp cuts and impacts.

Ryan’s a basketball player and is extremely skeptical of the performance of this shoe, especially considering the ads didn’t feature the shoe in tough basketball environments at all. I’m a techie and the prospect of bringing a smartphone-level computer into a shoe is intriguing. I can absolutely see how an invention like this could do away with shoelaces, or at least be on par with the customization of a Dr. Scholls shoe insert.