PMMAF Puma Ag Rudolf Dassl (PK)

Nike Inc. unveiled sneakers with self-lacing technology that it plans to sell later this year as the sportswear company looks to one-up rivals in an increasingly tech-driven athletic market.

In place of traditional laces or Velcro straps, the HyperAdapt Trainer 1.0 has a sensor in the heel that adjusts the sneaker's fit. Two side buttons allow the user to tighten or loosen the grip. Pricing for the shoe, which will be available for the 2016 holiday season, hasn't been determined, a Nike spokesman said.

The battery-powered sneakers, which have been in development for years, were unveiled as part of a two-day Nike event in New York City to introduce the company's newest products and technology. Nike also displayed a new app that will function as a combined workout-and-shopping destination.

The world's largest sportswear maker last fall outlined plans to achieve $50 billion in revenue by 2020, more than a third of which it hopes to achieve in sales direct to consumers, up from around a fifth in 2015. To this end, the HyperAdapt shoes will initially debut on the new Nike+ app.

The free app, which will be available in June, is the first significant update to the company's digital fitness offerings since Nike in 2014 discontinued its hardware division, including its FuelBand fitness tracker. The new Nike+ app won't replace existing company-backed apps for running, training and various sports.

In recent years, the sportswear industry has grown more competitive in digital fitness offerings, most notably rival Under Armour Inc., which has spent hundreds of millions to acquire fitness trackers to better understand how consumers buy and use athletic wear.

With the HyperAdapt shoes, when users steps into the sneaker they trigger a sensor that causes the shoe to conform its fit. The laces, strung horizontally across the top of the foot, are tightened or loosened by pressing buttons near the ankle. Ultimately, Nike said it hopes to make a version without the manual buttons.

Though Nike has been credited with popularizing the idea of automatic-lacing shoes—the company made the prototype of such shoes worn in the 1989 film "Back to the Future Part II" and subsequent self-lacing collector's editions—it isn't the only company to work on futuristic sneakers.

German-based sportswear maker Puma AG is expected to release a button-controlled lacing shoe sometime this year, after Olympic champion sprinter Usain Bolt demonstrated a prototype on his Instagram last fall.

​In the 1980s, Reebok introduced a popular basketball shoe called the Pump, which featured a button on the tongue that when pressed inflated parts of the sneaker to enhance its fit around the foot. The company still sells versions of the Pump, including for running and training. ​

Write to Sara Germano at sara.germano@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 17, 2016 08:05 ET (12:05 GMT)

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