(Courtesy Nike)
Athleticism is just as much about the brain as it is about the body. To truly become the best at what they do, athletes must be able to maintain intense focus for long periods of time and must think strategically about what they are doing, all the while allowing their body and muscle memory to do what it does best. This is no easy feat.
Now, the iconic footwear company, Nike, has developed a new type of sneaker and mule, the New York Post reports. The products feature technology that they claim could help athletes optimize the mind-body connection.
From the Brain Down
The new line of footwear, called Nike Mind, features two types of shoes: the first, The Mind 001, is a mule, and the second, The Mind 002, is a sneaker. Both of the shoes are fitted with nodes that are attached to water-resistant, flexible material. This allows the nodes to act like pistons and gimbals as the wearer moves.
“These are the first shoes designed from the brain down, not the ground up,” Nike’s chief science officer, Matthew Nurse told Dezeen.
Sensory Science
In order to create the footwear, Nike used sensory science to map where the feet are the most sensitive and put the nodes at those locations — closer together at the front of the foot and farther apart at the heel. The nodes then send tactile information to the thousands of sensory receptors in the foot, which in turn helps to activate the sensory-motor network in the brain. The footwear provides the perks of being barefoot without the discomfort and lack of protection, while the sensory feedback is key for focus, calm, and concentration.
The Mind line is the first but it won’t likely be the last Nike product to feature this cutting-edge technology. “We're at the starting line of an entirely new field,” Nurse said.
For athletes, the Mind line could support focus and calm, potentially giving them more of what they need to go the extra mile and level up their game. According to the New York Post, while the technology was originally developed with athletes in mind, it could appeal to a wider audience as well.
Thanks to Nike, that focus on the mind-body connection may soon be available to the wider public in the form of everyday footwear.
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