Just a few hours after our posting about a mysterious video clip showing the Nike MAG in what looked like a testing room, the secret is officially unveiled.

It turns out Nike produced 1500 pairs of this futuristic shoe and will auctioning off all of them on eBay (nikemag.eBay.com) starting on Thursday Sept 8th at 8:30pm 150 pairs will be posted per day until Sept 18th

Nike will donate the net proceeds of the Nike MAG auction to The Michael J. Fox Foundation which aims to eradicate Parkinson’s disease. Michael J. Fox who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 1991, played the ‘Back to the Future’ character Marty McFly wearing in one episode the now famous MAG shoes with Nike branding on it.

The Nike MAG 2011 edition features a EL (ElectroLuminescent) Nike logo on the strap and LED elements at the heel and sole part. The light effect can be activated with a squeeze of the ‘ear’ on the high top and will glow for five hours per charge.

Looks like the future of footwear is not quite here yet as the Nike MAG is not made for the masses around the globe but only for a select few that manage to win one of the auctions.

[source: NiceKicks]

The future finally arrived – at least for the much talked about Nike sneakers Marty McFly in the cult movie ‘Back to the Future Part II‘ had on his feet.

Since that movie has been released countless innovators and hackers attempted to bring these shoes back from the future.

According to a viral video showing lines after lines of illuminated, Nike Swoosh carrying MAG sneakers in what seems like a testing room at a factory, Nike themselves worked on the future of footwear, bringing the MAG sneakers back from the future and into footwear stores nearby.

Nike, presumably working on a top secret, wearable technology shoe project for some time would redefine the future of footwear if the MAG shoe hits the pavements of cities around the globe.

There is much speculation at this point about the authenticity of the video and no other information pointing towards the availability of a MAG shoe but hey – todays technology world is partly defined by speculation and rumors.

If Nike, a top brand in the sneaker business, indeed launches the MAG Fly sneaker it would be the greatest shoe wear (r)evolution in recent history. Launching the MAG  shoe for the consumer market would place Nike on the top of footwear innovation and give a big boost towards a wearable technology enriched fashion future.

[via: Adafruit.com]

Columbia Sportswear establishes itself as the leader of a new generation of winter outdoor apparel and footwear. Last Fall/Winter season Columbia pioneered into the high-tech footwear sector with the launch of the Bugathermo boot with integrated heating system which has been sold out almost overnight.

This Fall/Winter season Columbia extended their range of heated boots ready for the chilly time ahead to keep your toes cozy warm. Cold feet not only hurt, cold feet sends a chill throughout the whole body.

The Bugathermo boots feature built-in rechargeable batteries and electronic controls that provide three temperature settings for maximum protection from the cold.

On the low setting, heating pads located under the ball of the foot deliver warmth for 8 hours and on high you can expect 3 hours of heat – or better expressed warmth. Heated clothing and footwear does not mean you get cocked inside but just give off enough additional warmth to feel comfortable.

Cold feet are painful or at the least very annoying, spoil the nice outdoor walk through the snowy winter landscape. The Bugathermo’s smart, wearable technology give a more comfortable warm feeling while working in chilly environments or enjoying the great, cold outdoors.

Illuminating clothing, footwear or other fashion accessories inspire a growing number of designer who explore the possibilities of active light elements for fashion.

Italian-born fashion designer Francesca Castagnacci used the active light element as her inspiration to design Heels that contain fiber-optic material to emit subtle, classy soft color shades, not the usual, bright flashing color spots but discrete illumination.

Luminex, one of the leading companies that create optical fibers specifically to be used for fashion applications produces long, very thin strands of pure glass or plastic, no thicker than a human hair. These optical fibers are suitable to be woven together with conventional yarn to fabric structures.

The optical fibers themselves are not light emitting but need one or more LEDs on each end of the fiber or  bundle of fibers. By using RGB (Red, Green Blue) LEDs a simple program on an IC can created almost any color shade. The LED light travels through the optical fiber which is specially treated to allow light coming out along the fibers surface.

The effect is a subtile, almost mystical illumination. These illumination fibers combine with the design skills of people like Francesca Castagnacci bring sparkle to high end fashion objects.

[source: Yatzer via Ecouterre]

When it comes to hi-tech sneakers Adidas is the #1 a number it well deserves since they introduced early 2005 the Adidas 1 high-tech sneaker with integrated running computer.

Five years later, Adidas takes on again the high tech arena combining footwear with the virtual world as interaction object with the launch AR (Augmented Reality) sneakers.

The AR sneaker range does not involve this time much of wearable technology as seen in the Adidas 1 but they open the door to the online world of gaming and social networking. A simple marker sewn into the tongue is the key to that world.

Hold the square AR marker in the tongue in front of the computers’ camera and you enter Adidas’ Flash-based app which will then superimpose a virtual world on top of the shoe that moves in real time as you move the shoe in front of the camera.

It’s a simple demonstration of how to link physical objects with the virtual world but more sophisticated interaction with Adidas sneakers is in the making as they plan to release a couple of Online games using the AR sneaker as interaction device.

Shoes as input device for computer games might not sound very logical but seemingly playful concepts like this one represent a important steeping stone when exploring more sophisticated, more ‘sensible’ solutions for the future. One has to start somewhere and playful learning paves the way for creativity and innovation.

Although the wearable technology involvement in the AR sneaker range is very little, I believe that technology enhanced clothing design should utilize the technological possibilities to establish a link between our activities ‘in the cloud’ and our real life.

This can be in a playful, purely emotional form and/or to add functional sense by linking, by integrating our outfit with the WWW-cloud.

The Adidas AR range, featuring 5 different models are available in US and various European countries retailing between $65.- and $95.- just look around in your real world neighborhood where to get a pair as you need them to enter the virtual neighborhood of Adidas.

Many of us look forward to a hot summer season but the apparel brands think one or two seasons ahead and prepare for the next winter already now.

So even if you can not imagine right now to have cold feet again you might be interested in knowing that Columbia Sportswear will launch this autumn the Omni-Heat Boots that will keep your feet cozy warm on the coldest days thanks to an electronic heating system inside the shoes.

Columbia Sportswear has already claimed the innovator spot with the launch of the electrically heated Bugathermo last season, a hot looking shoe with battery powered heating.

This years model (no product image available yet) will feature electric powered thermal technology with state of the art carbon based heater, 4-6 hours of continuous heat from the integrated battery. Battery charging is dane via USB cable which are included when buying the Omni-Heat Boots.

The expected retail price will be around $300,- for black and $350,- for Camo. We will keep you posted about the launch of this hot boots from Columbia Sportswear.

For everyone who was shocked about the Zap Sandal’s price we found another option for illuminated footwear, the Teva Illum Sandals.

The waterproof light module on these Flip-Flop style sandals is detachable so during daylight there is no need to carry them along but after sunset on the beach, shoe headlights might come handy to avoid hitting rocks or beer bottles when leaving the beach party.

Depending on the material, the Illum sandals will retail when they hit the shops in May for $50.- with the synthetic finish or $60.- for a leather finish including a LED powered headlight on each sandal.

Personally I am not sure about the usefulness of this kind of shoe illumination. It seems to be a practical feature but I would really question the practicality.  Using light in shoes for style purpose, not as functional but as emotional design element looks to me more sensible.

There is a fine line one has to consider when merging technology with clothing, or in this case shoes: only because we usually perceive technology as functional does not mean technology has to be used only to add a function. Why not useing technology to create or enhance the emotional value of clothing?

[via: Feed the Habit]

Wearing light in form of dresses, jackets or shoes has a magnetic effect on people, some love it, some hate it (maybe) but in any case, wearable light has the attention of everyone around.

We have covered shoes with light elements using various technologies from no-brands to top-brands, it seems everyone is testing the segment to find out if shoe illumination is just for small kids shoe’s or is it a style element that fits into the high fashion market.

London based fashion designer Jimmy Choo who made his name by creating gorgeous looking shoes for women including some of the most expensive high-end shoes in the market announced the launch of the Zap Sandal for the Spring/Summer 2010 season with ‘light up details’.

Apparently the five-inch heels will light up at each step creating a firework when you hit the dance-floor with the Zap Sandals.

This unique light feature does not come cheap, it’s in the top bracket of Jimmy Choo’s line with a suggested retail price of €1745.- which is around $2400.-

I can not imagine this price point is only because of the light element, there is a considerable amount included going towards the prestige component of this sandals.

[via: Huffington Post]

We are a few days away from the official begin of autumn, time to look for clothing and shoes to keep us comfy warm during the cold days to come.

Announcing just in time to make it to the winter outfit shopping list, Columbia Sportswear offers an option to keeping our feet warm with the Bugathermo for men and the Snow Hottie for women, two high tech winter boot models with integrated, active heating.

Cold feet are a nightmare for many people. How often have I dreamed having a heater in my shoe while waiting in the cold for a taxi or bus.

The heated boots contain a innovative, rechargeable heating system that keeps feet warm for up to eight hours. Three temperature settings adjust to the coldest conditions, and with waterproof, breathable Omni-Tech, the feet stays dry and comfy warm.

The three temperature settings are easy to read and use via the LED ankle button, letting you customize your heating system on the go – cool.

Internal lithium polymer batteries deliver the heating power and are easily recharged with the included adapter. So in future don;t only charge tour cellphone but also your shoes.

Columbia Sportswear heated boots will be available soon but we have found the Bugathermo at this online store with a price tag of $249.99. Quite a cool/hot price point for such great looking high tech boots. Staying warm during the coming winter season is not as priceless as it was in the past.

A lazy hot summer day search about ‘techno beach gear’ came up with LED Flip-flops, these not very healthy, according to some studies, but beloved beach footwear which can be seen on beaches right now in numbers only second to the sand grains of the beach.

Having posted about on a couple of occasions about illuminated sneakers and their fun generating value for clubbing, these relatively cheap (between $8.- and $9.- available here) will for sure increase the fun and colorfulness of your next beach party.

To activate the light, just make a step and shoot up an explosion of colors, no mention of a battery that needs to be inserted or changed, so I guess they have an onboard battery that will last the entire lifetime of the flip-flops (which usually is not that long for such foot wear).

As I said at the begin, a lazy, hot summer search with a little sparkle on an everyday object like flip-flops are.