For a footwear brand to present what we could call a “sneaker exoskeleton” It is not just another sporting innovation: it is a declaration of intentions about what can come. Nike’s Amplify project, which combines a motor, sensors, individualized biomechanical adjustment and a modular shoe, is the visible symptom of a growing trend: the fusion between human and tool, between movement and mechanical amplification.
And, most importantly, the realization that Thanks to artificial intelligence and algorithms it is now possible to imagine an almost perfect fit to the bodyturning the footwear, garment or accessory into an extension of the body itself.
When the body becomes configurable, it is no longer simply a “support” for actions. It becomes a platform on which technology acts to overcome limits such as fatigue, resistance or lack of mobility, which until recently were considered an inevitable part of the human experience, of movement, of exercise.
Nike recognizes this when it states that the device is not at all aimed at elite athletes, but rather at average runners or normal people who spend many hours on their feet: the clear message is that human improvement will not be exclusive to high performance, but to everyday life.
And that is precisely what is radical. It’s not just running faster: It is allowing you to move with less effort, with more comfort and for longer.
When an algorithm can model an individual’s stride, when a motor can lift the heel at just the right pace, we are facing a transition from a tool to a body supplement.
What this allows is a very powerful cocktail: biometric sensors, algorithms that interpret movements, motors that synchronize to the exact step, and a customization phase that makes the system adapt to the user, not the other way around. In previous projects such as three-dimensional printing, body mapping, or artificial intelligence in footwear, this direction was already glimpsed: the company has already used personalized molds, motion analysis, and algorithms to adjust the cushioning to the foot and stride pattern.
But the development of Amplify takes this personal adjustment to the extreme, to the domain of mechanical amplification, which opens a different debate: if enhancement technology is going to stop being a luxury or accessory and become a personal infrastructure.
The social and ethical relevance of such a change is potentially very great. On the one hand, human augmentation has great potential to serve to promote inclusion: people with reduced mobility, workers who spend long hours on their feet or older citizens who require assistance to move could benefit from systems that reduce effort and expand autonomy.
On the other hand, there is a risk that improvement becomes the norm, not the exception, and that “improvements” like these create new thresholds of performance, new inequalities, a leap in the demand that everyone participate in a game where the body is no longer the limiting factor, where they can be “acquired”, both the sense of “develop” as in “buy”, additional capabilities easily.
When an algorithm can model an individual’s stride, when a motor can lift the heel at just the right pace, we are facing a transition from a tool to a body supplement. This changes the traditional notion of “the human”: to what extent is it permissible for technology to push the body beyond its natural limit? And what does it mean for health, identity and personal experience?
And the main question now is not whether we can improve the body, but with what values and in what direction we decide to do it.
The academic literature on so-called human augmentation distinguishes between replicating a capacity, supplementing it or exceeding it, and demonstrates that the border between tool and organ is increasingly blurred.
The Amplify project also highlights the ability of artificial intelligence to personalize the physical experience: it is no longer about standard sizes or generic products, but about adjusting to the specific user, to the pattern of movement, to the context of use.
This transforms “sportswear” into “body improvement platform”, and footwear becomes more of a light exoskeleton than an accessory that one chooses as in the past.
And this is just the beginning. It seems reasonable to imagine a near future in which sneakers, clothing or wearable devices incorporate mechanical or sensory assistance modules, calibrated to the body and its environment, enabled by algorithms that constantly learn and adjust.
But this possible future would require some debate: how do we ensure that these improvements do not become, for example, a job requirement for many? How do we prevent the body from being subordinated to a logic of extreme efficiency?
What happens when body enhancement becomes commonplace and performance is measured by those new standards? Technology should serve humans, and not the other way around.
The Amplify project opens a window into the future of body technology and reminds us that the body is still the ultimate interface. And the main question now is not whether we can improve the body, but with what values and in what direction we decide to do it.
Human augmentation, assisted by artificial intelligence algorithms and adapted to the body, is no longer science fiction: it is on the race track, halfway between “I walk” and “I fly.” The challenge is that when these types of devices land and become widespread, if they ever do so, they do so with the appropriate dose of humanity.
***Enrique Dans is Professor of Innovation at IE University.
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