Beiruting News

It's been 26 years since we saw them magically tightening Marty McFly's Nike boots in Back to The Future.

Now, self-tying shoelaces could actually become a reality this year, proving right one of the film's fantastical predictions for what 2015 would be like.

Engineers have designed a shoe that can automatically lace up, adjusting itself to the shape of your foot.

Simply slip the trainer on and pressure sensors will tell the 'smart shoe' when your foot is in position, triggering a tiny motor in the heel that pulls the laces tight.

When you want to take off the shoes, you click your heels together twice and the motor will release a spring in the shoe's tongue, which loosens the laces enough for you to slip them off.

And the ingenious invention doesn't even need to be plugged in to charge or have its battery replaced because it runs on power generated by the swing of your foot as you walk.

The device would use a compass, a speed calculator and a gyroscope - a device which determines orientation - to track the wearer's movements.

The designers hope it could be used to help emergency services navigate around unfamiliar buildings.