Never bend down to tie your shoes again. And yet the sneakers are just as tight as you would like them to be. That's exactly what Nike is bringing out now: a smart sneaker that is controlled by an app. But smart fashion can do even more: for example, warming or helping diabetics.
Nike's new shoe, the Adapt BB, has an electric motor that ensures that the upper part of the shoe fits snugly against the foot. You can set how narrow that is in the app and create different profiles there – for sports, for example. The app can also be used to control the color of two LEDs on the sole of the shoe.
In the shoe sole of the Nike Adapt there is a battery that is charged by induction when you place the shoes on a plate. If the mobile phone is empty, there are two buttons with which the shoe opens and closes. The Nike Adapt does not yet have any more smart capabilities. From February it will be available for around 300 euros.
Clothes with electronics are not that popular in Germany
In other countries there are already more examples of Smart Fashion than here. For example, a Hungarian designer created a sweater that lights up when it syncs with a second sweater of the same design.
Functional clothing with braided heating wire is more practical. It heats up at the touch of a button. Or a cap with built-in headphones: They don't transmit the music through the ear like normal headphones, but through the temples. The ear remains free and you can hear all the surrounding noises. And in the front of the cap there is a built-in hands-free facility.
Then there is, for example, a ring that you put on your index finger and that is connected to your smartphone via Bluetooth. So you can make calls with it by holding your finger to your ear.
Smart fashion can come in handy in professional sports and healthcare
In professional sports, jerseys are tested from time to time, with which the vital functions of the players can be monitored. Similar T-shirts can help staff in nursing homes, for example by showing in color that a resident sweats a lot and should drink more. Special fibers that analyze body values can also help diabetics, explains fashion designer and researcher Helen Koo in a Ted Talk.
Diabetics don't have to keep pricking themselves, but can check their blood sugar level through their clothing.
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