14/01/2026
Recently Nike launched a new innovation engine, their latest foray into blending design and tech to solve problems for athletes, and with it came a range of new products. We couldn't help but recall some other problem-solving tech-led Nike products that have been in the design spotlight recently.
First up is the Triax watch, straight out of the 90's. It's as if your arm was thrown into a futuristic blacksmiths. The melted metal over your wrist made you feel faster, like a kid sprinting back and forth in their new trainers.
Next up are some classic Y2K wraparound sunglasses. They weren't on Oakley's level, but every fashion-forward football fan in the 90's wished they had an excuse to look as iconic as Edgar Davids both on and off the pitch.
Both pieces would be a motherboard away from being classed as wearables were they to be released today. Yet Nike's sunglasses are still a step behind Oakley's design and a mile behind their Meta partnership. Their watch partnership with TomTom, which allowed for tracking via a sensor in a shoe, was eventually abandoned for the NRC app.
With the switch from Nike hardware to Nike software, they swapped tech for community, which is much like switching performance for brand. A great move to enamour the human element and build lasting relationships, but not necessarily one that can overcome the quiet creep of convenience offered by the far reaching tentacles of well-integrated consumer tech.
Beats by Dre went from start up to exit in 5 years, becoming a household name, and were culturally and technologically outstanding to the point of Apple acquiring them. What if Nike pushed further, became more technical, more integrated into human development? Would we be talking about Elliot Hill instead of Elon Musk offering a path to a human-led singularity? What if we could plug into the Nike Matrix and instantly know how to focus like Jordan, swing like Tiger, or even compute like Neo?
We hit the character limit... Read the rest on our website.
https://www.dreamworldstudio.co/?utm_content=sked_6967e09a1fe766d42c85a390&utm_medium=social&utm_name=sked&utm_source=facebook