Technically, the story starts in 1989 with the release of Back to the Future II (BTTF2), which was partly staged in the year 2015. In the movie, the character Marty McFly is given a pair of futuristic Nike high-tops that automatically lace up when he puts them on – a gadget geeky, yet cool enough, that fans pounced on Nike asking for the real thing. Things cooled down for a few years, until back in 2007 brothers Charlie and Mickey Maloof launched a grassroots movement called the McFly 2015 Project to pressure Nike into making the stylin' shoes for the public. (Nike had patented the shoes back in 1990 actually, but never made them mainstream. Also of note, Kanye West jumped on the McFly 2015 Project bandwagon, giving the project some less-nerdy publicity.)

It worked, and Nike made the Hyperdunk 2015s (sans LEDs and auto-laces) in 2008. They didn't exactly live up to all the hype in the mainstream's eyes, but Nike sold out of their limited supply to enthusiasts willing to pay the $200 price tag (which rocketed up on Ebay pretty quickly).

Since then, most fans resigned themselves to the fact that if you want something bad enough, you've got to do it yourself. Enter Blake Bevin, a DIY geek who developed a prototype “Power Laces” shoe (just one due to budget constraints). It uses a force sensor that “reads the pressure of your foot and activates two servo motors, which apply tension to the laces, tightening the shoe. A touch switch reverses the servos.” It's incredibly bulky, but it's the closest to the real deal out there right now.

But don't rule out Nike just yet. Getting back to the original spark for this post, Nike started the patent process for an automatic lacing system in spring 2009, and it seems to just now be getting through. Charlie Sorrel over in Wired.com's Gadget Lab mentioned that “the shoes will of course fasten themselves, but there are also LEDs a-glowing and a detailed breakdown of the batteries, circuits and control-systems. There is even a charging stand.”

Andrew Dobrow also made a good point on Gearfuse.com when he proposed the question of “why Nike didn't mix in kinetic power instead of an electrical charging method.”

Ultimately, the real McFly 2015s may not be perfected and produced until, sadly, the year 2015. However, the auto-lacing system could have a much bigger impact than just with BTTF2 fans. Think about it: people with disabilities may no longer require help with one of (what most people can say) the simplest maneuvers, tying their shoes.