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Nike to make self-lacing shoes a reality

We are truly living in the future now.&nbsp;<a href="http://news.nike.com/news/hyperadapt-adaptive-lacing" target="_blank">Nike just announced</a>&nbsp;a shoe that can lace itself.Yup,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28Wa5L-fkkM" target="_blank">like that</a>.The Nike HyperAdapt 1.0 uses battery-powered mechanical pulleys to lace itself. Funny enough, this means you&#39;ll have to charge your shoes about every two weeks — gotta give a little to get a little.The shoemaker has shown off concepts for&nbsp;<a href="http://news.nike.com/news/nike-mag-2015" target="_blank">&quot;powered-lacing&quot; shoes</a>&nbsp;before, but this is the first pair it plans to put on the market.There are manual controls on the side of the shoe to tighten or loosen the laces. But eventually, the company wants the shoe to be able to adjust itself automatically.Nike says it will start selling the shoes this year sometime around the holidays but hasn&#39;t said how much they&#39;ll cost.

By: Alex Hider

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Though Nike is a bit late to fit into the Back to the Future timeline, the shoe manufacturer is set to make self-lacing shoes a reality.

On Wednesday, Nike announced the upcoming release of the HyperAdapt 1.0, the first widely available pair of sneakers with “adaptive lacing.”

.@Nike's self-lacing shoes are here—but they're not what you expect https://t.co/tHOQpQKrqg pic.twitter.com/XhwF4PLAPv
— Co.Design (@FastCoDesign) March 16, 2016

According to Nike’s press release, a wearer’s heel will hit a sensor that will automatically tighten the sneaker around the foot. The shoe also includes two buttons that will tighten and loosen the laces.

Nike first developed the technology for use in their “Air Mag” model, a shoe designed to look exactly like the pair that Marty McFly wears in Back to the Future Part II. Nike only produced 1,500 pairs of AIr Mags, which routinely sell for thousands of dollars on eBay.

Nike Mag (2016) - https://t.co/zynZUct9Uf pic.twitter.com/7wKNJgokMB
— KicksOnFire.com (@kicksonfire) March 16, 2016

The HyperAdapt 1.0 will be released in time for the Holiday shopping season, but only to users of the Nike+ app. The shoe will be available in three colors.

It’s unclear how much the new shoes will cost.

Alex Hider is a writer for the E.W. Scripps National Desk. Follow him on Twitter @alexhider.