If you were a kid in the ’80s or ’90s, you might recall when light-up sneakers were the epitome of cool. Like the concrete under The King of Pop’s feet in “Billie Jean,” they twinkled with each step you took and fit with the era that spawned the tech bubble.
The new Adidas Originals kicks are sort of like that, except the iPhone version to the light-up’s car phone. Adidas is rolling augmented reality for your feet—specifically five pairs of men’s shoes that will feature a code embedded into the sneaker’s tongue that when held up to your computer, opens a world that makes your ’90s kicks look like burnt out light bulbs.
Chris Barbour, Adidas’ Head of Digital Marketing explained the experience, “We are not trying to mimic a real-world look, we have a more stylized, pop-up book creative approach. The neighborhood is displayed on a two dimensional computer screen, but you can use your shoe to control the angle and depth of view and zoom in and out, giving a 3-D sense of perspective.”
Just like those old shoes were also a flashlight in the dark, the Adidas Originals will serve another purpose—as a game. In the works are skateboarding, Star Wars, and music-related games all controlled by the shoe.
The shoes will retail between $65-$95 and are available beginning in February. ––Adrien Field