Renowned shoe brands such as Reebok, Nike, and Adidas can lead you into believing that buying their high-end products will significantly change your life. However, most people are unable to tell whether these shoe-makers are only marketing their goods or there is some underlying technology behind their footwear.
In 2017 alone, it is estimated that the athletic footwear industry will gain 83.2 billion dollars globally. These earnings are approximated to rise by about two percent each year until 2024. According to research, these sales are driven by a never-ending development cycle adopted by the footwear industry to continually advertise the arrival of every new shoe as the “greatest and latest” thing in shoes. The thought that a $300 pair of sneakers can significantly change someone’s life for the better appears a little ridiculous on the surface.
The shoe technology might be examined better from an “ease-of-use” or “cool factor” perspective instead of holding it to a standard-based result. Besides the self-lacing shoes there exist several other cooler things, may be the new shoe tech pinnacle. Probably, this will not change the life of anyone. However, it has a huge potential to have significant influence to those you boast to and since Nike’s self-lacing shoes cost $720, it should.
Athletic Propulsion Labs
The manufacturers of Tech Loom shoe, Athletic Propulsion Labs create their products based on tests conducted by ‘two world class, independent, and Ph.D. professionals in the field of energy return, biomechanics, and vertical leap’. The manufacturers claim that the technology makes people jump a little higher.
Note that the shoe is loaded with springs, hinges, and increased vertical explosion. These sound like the type of technology used in a fighter jet’s ejection seat. On the website, these shoes go for 165 dollars, which is a bit lower than most air tickets. Nevertheless, the website doesn’t mention how much exactly the shoe will raise your vertical jump.
The latest offering by the shoemaker, Reebok offers some additional benefits that most casual clients don’t even think they need. The shoemaker is probably renowned for the ‘pump’ sneakers it manufactures. These sneakers contain an inbuilt bladder system that can be inflated if the wearer wants a tighter fit. The shoes are designed to constrict around the feet and ankles to allow the wearer correctly react to killer cross-over or become the quickest to respond pedestrian on the entire crosswalk.
Development and research teams from Adidas have been working to create shoes with a combination of oxygen and light. They refer to it as 4D printing and the process involved in 4D printing is known as Digital Light Synthesis. According to the Silicon Valley firm that collaborated with Adidas on this technology, Carbon, the process is a breakthrough and relies on oxygen-permeable optics, programmable liquid resins, and digital light projection to manufacture the products.
Be patient if you need a pair of these shoes since they are not available until December. According to Adidas, it will only release 5,000 of these pairs, but more will be availed on the market before the end of 2018. These shoes are expected to retail at $333.
These Shoes are not Substances for Enhancing Performance
Shoes are not designed in a way to give a player an edge over the other player like ‘freemium’ games that only rewards participants who spend the highest amount of money. They are only designed to provide the wearer with protection. Moreover, shoes are only designed to enhance the natural motions of wearers.
The right shoes will not make you jump higher, but the wrong shoes cannot allow you to jump as high. There are no any sneakers for basketball or self-lacing shoes or high-end trainers that will change you from nothing to a hero on the track. That is not what the developers and researchers at APL and Adidas are tirelessly trying to accomplish.
However, the researchers only observe the greatest athletes in the world in an effort to come up with technology that is able to enhance whatever they are doing. Their effort is what influences the gear worn by the rest of the world at pick-up games around city parks or for daily jogs. Although it may not sound as mind-blowing, shoes provide a window of opportunity to another. Today, the world is making footwear out of air and light, and it is impossible to predict what the tomorrow athletic shoe will resemble.
See More: Could the Dodow Metronome Light System Help You Sleep Better?
Conclusion
Shoemakers make billions of dollars every year from selling ‘greatest latest’ shoes, and the trend is speculated to increase by almost 2 percent annually until 2024. The high technology behind a particular shoe brand cannot elevate your game. Research shows that shoe brands such as Adidas, Reebok, and Nike only describe their new products fancily in order to sell. However, they spend lots of dollars on researchers who study famous world athletes to create some of the best athletic kicks. Note that the right shoes created using the best shoe-technology won’t make you jump higher, and you will not jump higher with the wrong shoes.
