Shoes like these could really help kickstart a workout.
Nike is making good on their vow to “create epic s–t” after dropping a new line of sneakers that they claim are good for both body and mind.
When Phil McCartney, who has worked at Nike for nearly three decades, was named chief innovation, design and product officer in May, he put an emphasis on speed, looking to release items as early as 12 months ahead as planned.
“By nature, I’m pretty impatient,” McCartney said during a recent interview at Nike’s headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon, per Bloomberg. “It’s OK to push some edges and try some crazy things.”
McCartney, 51, is doing just that — with new shoe designs that look fit for robot legs.
The 60-year-old sportswear brand certainly has the research tools to back up its cutting-edge ideas. There are force plates implanted in the indoor track in the research lab that will measure a runner’s foot strikes; the basketball court and turf field utilize motion-capture cameras to take note of athletes’ movements; and climate chambers are used to study the science of sweat in different conditions.
Using insights from the Nike Sports Research Lab — inside the new LeBron James Innovation Center — their team of engineers and designers came up with four innovative ‘fits to benefit the body.
Nike Mind
There’s Nike Mind, which is the company’s first neuroscience-based footwear, a slip-on sneaker to help athletes feel calm, focused and present.
The shoes are designed to target pressure points that stimulate certain parts of the brain and trigger the mind-body connection by activating key sensory receptors in the feet.
“Nike Mind is a new sensory-footwear concept that helps reawaken the foot, the body and the mind,” Eric Avar, VP, Creative Director, Innovation, said in a statement. “It represents a new paradigm of performance and how we can potentially make athletes better in the future.”
The Mind 001 and Mind 002 feature 22 independent foam nodes on each shoe, which are bonded to a flexible, water-resistant material that allows them to act as pistons and gimbals as people move.
The Mind 001 is a mule that offers comfort and convenience, while the Mind 002 is a sneaker that offers more support and sensation.
“By studying perception, attention and sensory feedback, we’re tapping into the brain-body connection in new ways. It’s not just about running faster — it’s about feeling more present, focused and resilient. That’s the next frontier of performance,” Dr. Matthew Nurse, VP, Chief Science Officer, NIKE, Inc., said.
According to the website, the two Mind models will be available in January 2026. The Mind 001s are set to be $95 and the Mind 002s will be $145.
Nike’s Project Amplify
Project Amplify is perhaps Nike’s most ambitious of the four major technological advancements this month.
It’s the world’s first powered footwear system for running and walking, using a robotic brace to make people go a little faster and further with less effort.
The device, which Nike likened to an e-bike, springs the person forward with each step and is engineered to amplify natural lower leg and ankle movement — “in effect, a second set of calf muscles,” the company said.
The footwear system is based on motion algorithms informed by the Nike Sport Research Lab and features a lightweight motor, drive belt and rechargeable cuff battery. It was created with the company’s robotics partner Dephy.
Its science-based approach is backed by insights from Nike Sport Research Lab testing, which involved athletes “of all abilities and intensities,” who reportedly noted that the system feels like it’s part of their body and makes going uphill feel like moving on flat ground.
Project Amplify is still in testing stages, and Nike is aiming for a broad consumer launch in the coming years.
Nike’s Therma-FIT Air Milano Jacket
The new jacket powered by A.I.R. (Adapt. Inflate. Regulate.) Technology is the brand’s “most technically engineered garment of its kind,” designed to allow athletes to regulate their temperature in real time without having to add or remove layers.
Nike studied years of data highlighting athletes’ challenges in cold weather and set out to find a solution. Most outerwear garments are limited by horizontal construction needed to hold down or another filling, this jacket is made a two-layer composite laminate material that is durable and soft to the touch.
Each feature went through more than 380 hours of wear testing in Colorado, while athletes ran, hiked, biked, skied and snowboarded in a range of conditions.
Air Milano — which USA athletes will wear as part of their official medal ceremony look in Milan for the Winter Olympics in Feb. 2026 — ranges in warmth levels from a lightweight hoodie to a mid-weight puffer as air inflates or deflates within the jacket’s baffles.
Aero-FIT
Lastly, Nike’s Aero-FIT is a cooling innovation that allows for more than double the airflow of other Nike athletic apparel.
The technology is designed to allow maximum performance in extreme conditions, moving more air between the skin and the fabric. Aero-FIT allows for sweating while still keeping athletes dry.
It’s Nike’s first elite performance apparel made from 100% textile waste and will make its global debut in football kits that Nike federations will wear during the “biggest sports moment of 2026” before expanding across the company’s sports product strategy.
