Meet B.I.L.L., Nike's New Robot-Powered System That Extends the Life of Your Sneakers
The contraption is engineered to clean and repair shoes with selected customizations.
Nike‘s efforts toward creating a more sustainable planet have been widespread across its various apparel and footwear launches, but the brand is taking things a step further by providing a new in-store experience that could change the sneaker maintenance game forever. The brand has announced B.I.L.L. — which stands for Bot Initiated Longevity Lab — which is a robot-powered system that is manufactured to extend the lifespan of your kicks.
The Swoosh’s latest innovation makes use of water-based cleaning products, recycled polyester, old-school handcraft and advanced robotic arms to reinvigorate the life of Air Jordan 1s, Air Force 1s, Space Hippie 01s and Dunks. After consumers surrender their kicks into the robot, a 3D digital model is generated and reflects the areas of the upper, sides and treading that need refresh. From there, consumers hand-pick the patches that they want to be restored. After B.I.L.L. wraps up its 45 minute cleaning process, Nike store athletes equip the shoes with new liners and laces made from recycled materials.
“The thing is, maintaining old product is deeply personal. People will go to great lengths to care for their favorite shoes. Repairing a product is a way to extend our memory with a product. We see B.I.L.L. as a tool for being able to do that.” says Noah Murphy-Reinhertz, Sustainability Lead, Nike NXT. “Robots can do things that are tough to do by hand, but when we used robotics as part of a recycling technology, we still want the service to be personal.”
Consumers can now receive the service free of charge at Nike Town London.
In other news, Nike Basketball has unveiled the Air Zoom GT Cut 2 hoop shoe.
