Nike Files Patent For Self-Lacing Shoes

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This is at once a huge success and a huge disappointment for everyone who grew up with the Back to the Future series–the current word is that Nike has filed patent documents for shoes that can tie their own laces.

Yes, I know…it’s no hoverboard. We all wanted the hoverboard. But we’ve got self-tying shoes coming up and that’s worth paying attention to. How do these things work? From the patent application:

“the automatic lacing system provides a set of straps that can be automatically opened and closed to switch between a loosened and tightened position of the upper. The article further includes an automatic ankle cinching system that is configured to automatically adjust an ankle portion of the upper.”

Basically, you flip a switch, and the shoes tighten a series of straps via a small battery-powered motor contained in the shoe. Further, the shoes are set to be powered by either USB or micro-USB port (though why an AC adapter couldn’t be used is a bit beyond me), which means you’ll likely be plugging your shoes into your PC at night.

There’s no word on when the self-tying shoes will hit market, but if Nike’s filing patent applications, it says they’re definitely planning to do something with them and fairly soon.