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Where were you on the 3 July, 1985?  It’s been just under 30 years since the first Back to the Future film was released... Powerlaces are One Step Closer to Becoming a Reality

Where were you on the 3 July, 1985?  It’s been just under 30 years since the first Back to the Future film was released and inventors are still trying to come up with Marty McFly paraphernalia that works! Hover boards are nearly possible but now visionaries have come up with the self-tying shoe lace! Tinker Hatfield (former Nike designer) created Marty McFly’s ‘power laces’ in Back to the Future II.  He predicted that the tech would be possible by 2015.  Seeing that we are approaching 2015 quickly, it seems that the prediction may come true.

The Powerlace is an auto-lacing shoe.  Although there could be trademark issues, this new piece of kit could revolutionise footwear. Although you will not be seeing floating shoes that tie themselves, you will see laces that are already in place requiring tightening or loosening.

The only thing the Powerlace needs is your body weight to accomplish this self-tying feat.  Once your foot is in place, the pressure from your foot will be applied to a presser in the midsole.  This pressure information is then sent to the lacing mechanism as the power needed to tighten the laces. In order to loosen them, a lever has been inserted into the lower back of the shoe.  All this is made possible by small mechanical parts inside.

So what about wear and tear?  Powerlace has been thoroughly tested on 200,000 lacing cycles.   So what are the negatives?  You can’t actually buy them yet as they are at the beginning stages of a Kickstarter campaign.  The goal is $650,000 and so far they have only reached a quarter of what they need.  There are just over 50 days left before the campaign ends so we shall have to wait and see what happens.  Another downside is the fact that they only come in men’s sizes (Sorry Ladies).  There may be a pair for women in the future but there is no indication when that will happen.

If all goes well, you should be able to order a pair in May 2015. 

[Images via digitallifepowerlace]

SOURCE: http://www.slashgear.com/powerlace-tries-to-bring-the-auto-lacing-shoe-to-life-20356560/