Remember those crazy self-tying shoes in the movie? Nike made a real-life version.
Yesterday (October 21) was Back to the Future Day, and Nike decided to celebrate by announcing that their own version of the self-tying shoes in the movie will be available in 2016. The futuristic shoes, called Nike Mags, have a “power-laced” feature where the shoes essentially suck the laces in and adapt to fit the wearer.
"We started creating something for fiction and we turned it into fact, inventing a new technology that will benefit all athletes," Nike CEO, Mark Parker said in the company’s announcement.
SEE ALSO: 7 Weirdly Accurate Predictions of 2015 in Back to the Future II
Nike’s first version of the Back to the Future shoes was released in 2011 — but without the automatic power-lacing feature. And none other than Marty McFly himself, Michael J. Fox, was chosen to debut the sneakers on Jimmy Kimmel Live:
Fox demonstrates how buttons on the side ankle support control the laces by tightening or loosening them. For now, Fox is one of the only ones that has a pair of the crazy kicks, but in spring 2016, more shoes will be auctioned off. There’s no word on how expensive the Nike Mags will be, but all of the proceeds will go to Michael J. Fox’s Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. So, it’s a win-win — cutting edge footgear and contributing to a good cause.
Of course, since Nike is known to be an athletic brand, they’re hoping to market the shoes for professional athletes. The company announced that they’ll continue to test the shoes across multiple sports, hoping to create the next revolutionary footgear that will change the game for athletes across the world.
While the shoes still have to be further developed, Nike says specific details on the auctions will be posted on Nike’s website and Twitter in 2016. Now all we need is for the company to add levitational features to the shoes, so we could all zoom around with hoverboards on our feet.
