They might not be quite as cool as Marty McFly’s hoverboard, but Back to the Future II’s auto-lacing shoes could be infinitely more practical – and a small firm from Quebec Canada has made it happen.
Powerlace Technology’s new auto-lacing shoes aren’t Nike, as in the 1989 classic, but they do almost the same thing and are completely hands-free; no electricity, gears, cogs or springs are required.
“Powerlace is a self-sufficient small shop that’s been working on this technology for the last seven years, making every aspect of the shoe in our shop,” said Louis-Pierre Thibeau, co-owner of Powerlace Technology who heads the small team of five people. “We’re bringing a new standard to the shoe industry. It’s like a TV remote – you don’t know you need one until you own one.”
Once the laces are adjusted to fit, the wearer steps back into the heel of the shoe, pushing down a lever which tightens and then locks down the laces. Once the laces are in place, the heel lever is disconnected from them to avoid accidental tightening or releasing.
When it comes time to step out of the shoes, a small lever on the outside of the heel of the shoe releases the laces.
The laces are made of traditional nylon on the outside, but have a steel inner to withstand repeated tightening. How much bulk the mechanism adds to the heel, however, is hard to tell. Other designs using circuit boards and gears have made shoes unwieldy.
The style of the shoe doesn’t quite match up to McFly’s, and the trainers are only available in men’s shoe sizes from UK seven to 11.
The Canadian firm is looking for $650,000 CAD ($573,000) on Kickstarter to fund mass manufacturing, with a limited number of shoes available for $175 (£98) and the rest for $195, shipping in May 2015.
In 2015 Nike is expected to release an auto-lacing version of the Nike Mag as worn by McFly, after auctioning 1,500 pairs of the non-auto-lacing variety for the Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research in 2011 – but Powerlace might beat the sports giant off the starting blocks.
• The hoverboard becomes real for $10,000
• Car that parks itself rolls off Tesla production line in California
• Tesla Model S launch: an electric car to answer even Clarkson’s objections
• Finally, the flying car may have landed
