Smart sneakers that were invented in the '80s: back to the future

In 2021, it’s hard to look at so-called “smart sneakers” from the last century without smiling. After all, it’s as if their developers did it all for nothing – now all fans of measuring heart rate and counting calories use not sneaker-computers at all, but watches.

Smartwatches, which are produced by tech giants like Xiaomi and Apple, have proven to be much better than any sneakers for fitness and other wellness enthusiasts: for example, they count your active calories when you’re at home or swimming in the pool – even when you’re sleeping!

However, such a phenomenon as “smart sneakers” still existed and exists now, albeit in a changed form. Who needs them now and what they are – the answers to these questions can be found in the first half of the 1980s.

creator and author of the sneaker and street culture blog First Soupe

Talks about sneakers from the past that were the breath of the future.

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The 1980s: which is faster – man or gadget?

Sneakers with computers inside couldn’t have arisen on their own, of course. They appeared very timely – just at the time when mankind realized that a gadget is not just a tool, it is a part of life. People not only wanted to have electronic devices in their homes, they wanted to walk the streets with them, take them to work and on vacation. It was in the early 1980s that the era of portability began: in 1981, for example, the first prototype of the laptop appeared, and, more importantly, the first cell phone became available.

It’s hard to imagine modernity without a lightweight phone in your pocket, where you receive endless notifications. However, almost 40 years ago mankind could only dream of something ultra-thin and a little bit convenient. It was in 1984 that the first cell phone went on sale. It was a device called Motorola DynaTAC 8000X – a huge tube weighing almost a kilogram. And despite the fact that the gadget resembled a dumbbell, the portable phone, we can say, “blew up the brain” not only scientists, but also ordinary people.

It is in this context that “smart sneakers” with microcomputers inside appear: mankind has already realized that they need lightweight portable gadgets, but could not yet develop the necessary technology. The gadgets that were invented at first were huge, heavy, did not fit well into everyday life, and existed more for the rich and collectors than for ordinary users. Because of their heavy weight, gadgets could not catch up with the fast man who had to go to work in the morning, to lunch in the afternoon, and to a party in the evening. Quite indicative in this matter seems to be a scene from “Nightmare on Elm Street”, where Johnny Depp’s character is lying with a TV set on his feet.

The sneaker industry, strange as it may seem, is probably the only one that was able to respond to the challenge of society in time and successfully: it combined technology with the ability to move quickly.

What are “smart sneakers”?

Of course, no one demanded some programming miracles from sneakers. Although what they demonstrated, in the 1980s, in fact, taken for a miracle: counting kilometers traveled, calories burned, and so on. These were mostly sport-oriented miracles. And here it is worth considering three models of sneakers from three different brands: adidas Micropacer, Puma Rs-Computer, Nike Air Mag. They were not unique in their kind, but their example can show what the essence of “sneakers from the future”. Well, or more accurately: “sneakers from the past that were conceived as “sneakers from the future.”

Adidas Micropacer – 1984

It is noteworthy that the creation of the first “computer sneakers” coincided with the so-called Orwellian year: it is said that when George Orwell wrote the famous dystopia, he simply rearranged the digits of the year of its writing (1948). Adidas themselves did not pay attention to this, unlike other technocrats of the time. Apple, for example, even played “Big Brother” in their Macintosh commercials:

So, things were really shaping up for adidas Micropacer. It’s a time when Apple is making miracle computers and Motorola has blown the States away with its miracle phone, and it’s time for miracle sneakers for miracle athletes. But it’s not that simple. Take a look at a picture of the first ever sneakers that were created to count for everything in fitness:

It’s not hard to guess that such shoes, albeit equipped with a processor for motion control, are not designed for sports. First of all, it is in no way designed for running, because the sneakers don’t have a single hole for air to get into them. This, of course, was strange for 1984 and especially in the run-up to the Los Angeles Olympics: after all, perforations in sneakers have been known to the world since the 60s, and since then they have become an integral part of footwear for sports and simply active lifestyles.

Moreover, the frame of adidas Micropacer was made entirely of leather: it is certainly convenient for walking in rain or bad weather, but it makes the sneakers much heavier and makes it more difficult for a person to be active. Finally, the sole of these sneakers is a conventional EVA foam, and with all its advantages it was no longer surprising to runners and other athletes, spoiled by compressed air technology brand Nike. Adidas Micropacer cannot be compared to Motorola DynaTAC 8000X phone, which weighed almost a kilogram and could hardly fit in the hand. It would be more appropriate to compare it with Nokia 3310 – a small unbreakable brick from the past – already bearable, but still not very comfortable to use.

However, who said that adidas Micropacer was intended for athletes? No one. Adidas did release a silver sneaker whose lacing is hidden under a huge tongue with a computer inside that could calculate your average running speed. But they didn’t do it for athletes, they did it for dreamers who believed in technological futurism. For those who were willing to buy them for $100 (inflation adjusted $257 if they were sold today).

Adidas was selling people a dream and they were right. The Micropacer model didn’t immediately find consumer love: many people certainly knew about them, but they didn’t always dare to buy. Nevertheless, it survived: Micropacer became the favorite sneakers of collectors, which could not ignore the brand itself.

For the 30th anniversary of the model adidas re-released Micropacer, now you can find them both in the original assembly, and with today’s advanced boost technology, and only a silhouette without a computer called Futurepacer.

Puma RS-Computer – 1986

Adidas approached technology with the privileges of innovators: they, as they call it, “didn’t sweat” people’s request for lightweight, breathable shoes for sports. Puma brand in this sense acted more responsibly towards consumers and in 1986 created sneakers RS-Computer, where RS stands for Running System. Even in their advertising it was clearly shown that the sneakers were created not just for bragging and hype, but for running.

The sneakers were presented as “the first running computerized shoe”. And it really was: the RS technology is Puma’s patented technology, more cushioning than regular EVA. And the sneakers themselves are made of different materials, which kept your foot from sweating. Plus, they didn’t look as “show-offy” as the Micropacer. While adidas placed the computer in the most visible place of the sneaker, Puma went a completely different way: they placed a plastic panel with switches and sockets for wires on the heel.

Although this solution, of course, also increased the weight of the sneaker, there is a positive effect: at least the back of the sneaker became firmer, strengthened and improved stabilization on the sides. And these parameters are important not only for running, but also for normal walking. The port in the heel was intended for synchronization with Apple II or Commodore 64 via cable, and pressing the buttons on the back panel was accompanied by a typical computer squeak.

The future of these sneakers was less successful than the Micropacer, perhaps because the developers at Puma approached them in a too utilitarian, too “smart” way. These sneakers were re-released only once in 2018, but in only 86 copies (a symbolic number because 1986 is the year of their original release).

The sneaker world doesn’t remember them as well as the adidas Micropacer, however, it values them much more in monetary terms. Today, for example, the 2018 Puma RS-Computer are priced at €1,710 per pair. Such a resale price has not been dreamed of by any Micropacer.

Nike Air Mag – 1989

The real realization of a dream happened not in real life, but in a movie, as is often the case. Nike Air Mag are the same auto-lacing sneakers from the popular sci-fi movie about the adventures of Marty McFly “Back to the Future – 2”. At first, they were simply called the Nike Mag. These sneakers were not conceived as something that would simplify the life of athletes, it was the real sci-fi.

It should be said right away that there was no magic in the movie – it wasn’t even special effects. The director of the movie simply told a certain person to lie under the car and in time to tighten the laces of the actor: the brand Nike and was not going to go beyond the concept and actually create self-lacing in the late 80’s. The success of the pair rested on the talent of the brand’s designers, Mark Parker and Tinker Hatfield, who worked their asses off.

In 2005, Tinker Hatfield decided to make fiction a reality and gathered a working group that would work on self-lacing sneakers for the next ten years. To be precise, it took 11 years to develop “those very Marty McFly sneakers”: it wasn’t until 2016 that actor Michael J. Fox, who played the lead role in the movie, was able to wear them. The epochal moment was even left on YouTube and garnered over 4 million views.

For these 11 years, the brand’s working group on the development of Nike Mag has experienced a lot: first they could not make the sneakers glowing, as in the movie, then could not make the laces move … However, this did not prevent them to cause a stir in the snicker community: Nike held auctions to sell the interim results of development, filmed ads with Kevin Durant and made the world more and more talk about their secret developments.

And when the self-lacing sneakers did come out in 2016, there was a real explosion in the resale world. Prices for them reached € 232 thousand (as of September 2021, that’s almost 20 million rubles). Perhaps the most telling case of sneakers from the future is not about the future itself, but about a dream.

The fact is that the brand Nike already has a range of sneakers that lace up themselves, and do not cost like an apartment in Moscow. They are called Nike Hyperadapt 1.0 – they can be found for a price tag “only” up to 100 thousand rubles. on different marketplaces. It is, of course, also not cheap, but theoretically they can be purchased by some famous and rich athletes.

However, famous and rich athletes only tried them on. One of the first to do so was soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo and basketball player Kyrie Irving.

Who really uses these sneakers for their intended purpose? And after all, this technological advancement is coming within the athletic line, not the lifestyle line. Are there even athletes who dream of laces lacing themselves? Practice shows that athletes dream about something else. And even if we analyze the last Olympics in Tokyo, it turns out that they still choose to lace their shoes themselves. That includes Kevin Durant, who was involved in the Nike Air Mag PR. And who can certainly afford the Nike Hyperadapt 1.0, a generally expensive but completely impersonal sneaker.

It’s worth realizing that this kind of technology – smart laces, built-in pedometer and other computerized sophistication – is generally completely uncharismatic and even useless unless there’s a certain context behind it.

In the 1980s, people dreamed of having a computer with them at all times – at work and at home. In the third millennium, this dream has come true and even turned into an anti-dream: it often seems that smartphones, notifications and information noise have become too much. And it turns out that in order to create the sneakers of the future in 2021, you need to start dreaming in a new way.