The Research into Nike Free

A Wired News article describes the research that went into Nike's latest line of running shoes called Nike Free. These are the shoes that are designed to make you feel like you're running barefoot.

The barefoot running concept didn't catch on at Nike all too well (kind of goes against the grain of a shoe company.) But the Nike Designers came out with something that supposedly combines the best of both the shoe and barefoot running. The main design change seems to be the deep grooves in the sole allowing lots of flexibility. Supposedly they feel noticeably different than the typical running shoe.

I have to admit, I like their Nike Free commercial where a guy running on a beach gets slowly transformed into running through a downtown of a city. I must have seen this commercial at least a dozen times. I wonder how popular this shoe is becoming. Some Nike Free sales stats would be interesting.