Nike took over Lincoln Park Friday evening to unveil its new Nike+ Basketball technology.
To launch the first in their line of basketball products, the Nike Hyperdunk+, the company staged a dunk contest event which was open to the public on the outside basketball court they recently constructed in Lincoln Park. There is also an adjacent field house which has been dubbed the NikeFuel House in which anyone can go in and test the products themselves.
The Nike+ technology itself has been around since 2006. Originally developed for runners, a stand alone sensor was placed in compatible shoes that allowed the wearer to track metrics such as running time, distance, calories burned and pace.
The sneaker giant has now embedded this technology directly into their basketball products, eliminating the need for a separate sensor as it tracks basketball specific metrics such as vertical leap and quickness.
Former Wendell Phillips Academy and Illinois State basketball star Osiris Eldridge won the dunk contest. The shoes calculated Eldridge's vertical leap at 36.9 inches and fans were shown his jump stats on the outside video screens they have in place.
Eldridge will represent Chicago during Nike's World Basketball Festival dunk contest in Washington, D.C. July 13-15. He will also join former Leo Catholic High School and DePaul basketball standout Andre Brown on the team representing the Windy City against squads from New York, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. in a four team tournament.
To check out the outdoor court and the NikeFuel House to try out the latest Nike+ technology, both are located in the heart of Lincoln Park at 1800 N. Stockton, near the South Fields.
