A few days after Nike's announcement of the Adapt BB, its new self-lacing shoe for basketball (see our previous issue), Puma unveiled its own self-lacing training shoe, called FI. Made for workouts and light running, it employs a micromotor to power a cable system that laces and unlaces the shoe with an up or down swipe on the module. It comes with a smart sensing capability that learns the shape of the foot of each user and adapts the fit of the shoe to the individual.
The system is an evolution of the revolutionary Disc system that Puma introduced in 1991, which used a ratcheting disc that could be turned to tighten cables that secured the foot. Three years ago, the company developed an experimental AutoDisc system based in a wireless controller and a motor to automatically operate the Disc closure. The new FI technology is smaller, lighter and more commercial. It also incorporates a breathable upper for more comfort.
The shoe is the first product to be launched under Puma's new technology platform, Fit Intelligence (FI), which is designed to automate and fine-tune performance fit for Puma shoes. The company says that it is possible to monitor and adjust the shoe through a smartphone app or an Apple watch.
The brand is planning to deploy that technology across a range of different sport and lifestyle products. It announced that it will allow tech-savvy people to participate in beta testing of FI to help the brand think of ways of making it smarter and more powerful. The FI training shoe will cost $330, close to the price of the Nike product, but it will only be available to consumers from spring 2020.
Earlier this month, Nike announced the Adapt BB, a low-cut basketball shoe that also laces itself and adjusts its fit in accordance with settings entered into a smartphone app called Nike Adapt. Each shoe contains a small motor and a tension-adjusting gear that can tighten or loosen the upper either on command or on a schedule. Buttons on the side of the shoe allow for manual adjustments.
The Adapt BB is Nike's second shoe with “power lacing,” after the HyperAdapt 1.0 of 2016. It will cost $350 at retail and go on sale, with as-yet unreleased FitAdapt functions, on Feb. 17. In time, Nike plans to add data tracking and user personalization to the Adapt platform and expand it into non-basketball products. The present model is for men, but women's and children's styles are in the pipeline.
