Fans of card games & baseball games alike will enjoy this recent release given away to New Era customers in Asia upon purchase. The faces all have little hats for the pips and the hats have their respective suits in the center. The hats were also added to the court cards which makes you feel like you are at a sporting event. Consider yourself lucky if you own one of these decks!

Nike has teamed up with artist, Tom Sachs, in conjunction with his new show, SPACE PROGRAM: MARS, at the Park Avenue Armory in NYC. The show opens today and there will be a pop-up shop celebrating and selling this artisanal capsule collection in limited quantities.

Astronauts must be as fit as an elite athlete to even withstand the rigors of exiting the earth’s atmosphere. Their daily tasks require a substantial effort and endurance. Equally, their equipment must be up to the task of performing under the most unforgiving conditions.
The journey itself would end up inspiring the Tom Sachs: NIKECraft collection – The Mars Yard Shoe, the Trench, The Marsfly Jacket, and the Lightweight Tote. Nike design and Sachs applied materials that have never been used in sportswear, taken from automotive air bags, mainsails for boats and the space suit itself. Each piece is packed with functionality that would prove useful in the voyage through space. Zipper pulls that double as storage containers, paracord that can be fashioned as a tourniquet and embellishments like the periodic table of elements screened on the inside of a jacket – they all merge visual interest with purpose.

Check out key pieces of the collection after the jump.

Airbag Bag

Airbag Bag

Mars Yard Shoe

Mars Yard Shoe

Marsfly Jacket

Marsfly Jacket

Trench

Trench

Trench

This season, the official headwear of the NFL will finally be provided by New Era. As a cap wearer, this is an announcement I’ve been waiting my whole life for. Finally, I’ll be able to rock caps of my favorite football teams and they’ll fit like they’re supposed to!

This new partnership launches with the Draft Collection. Draft Collection speaks to the city and is a symbol of the moment a player and city become one. The famed 59FIFTY (fitted cap, center) will be worn by players on Draft Day. Agents, family and friends will wear 9FIFTY snapbacks (left) and 39THIRTY stretch fit caps (right).

All product is available for purchase at midnight on April 1 at New Era Flagship stores only. The Draft Collection will be available at all participating retailers and Neweracap.com on April 2.

Chuck Bryant from How Stuff Works’, Stuff You Should Know Podcast is seen here rocking our Teepee fitted cap. It’s always great to see that our work out there. #GrowTheBrand y’all!

Nike’s FuelBand measures your workouts as well as your everyday activities and quantifies them as NikeFuel, a new universal currency to compare ourselves to others. Everything you need to know about this game-changing release after the jump.

The above video cleverly it demonstrates the #MakeItCount concept through the world of pop culture.

NIKEFUEL: A NEW METRIC TO MEASURE MOVEMENT

The ergonomic NIKE+ FuelBand captures and displays four different metrics: time, calories, steps and NikeFuel – a new metric that will be the ultimate measure of your athletic activity. NikeFuel is a proprietary technology that measures your activity through the movement of your wrist. NikeFuel motivates athletes to do more with a NikeFuel score that makes movement fun, meaningful and comparable, letting you compete with athletes of all levels in most activities. The more you move, the more NikeFuel you earn, whether you’re playing basketball, throwing a Frisbee or going for a run.

Nike worked with some of the world’s top experts in science and sports to engineer NikeFuel algorithms based on oxygen kinetics. Unlike calorie counts — which vary based on someone’s gender and body type — NikeFuel is a normalized score that awards all participants equal scoring for the same activity regardless of their physical makeup. A user can also choose to also receive a calorie count to understand how many calories are burned versus how much NikeFuel is earned.

HOW THE NIKE+ FUELBAND MAKES IT COUNT

As you wear the FuelBand throughout the day, the built-in three-axis accelerometer measures your motion and translates it into NikeFuel. Each day you can set your goal for activity and the level of NikeFuel you want to achieve. As you move closer to your goal, the band’s series of 20 LED lights go from red to green. The user-friendly interface provides encouragement and motivation as you hit and exceed your goals.

The NIKE+ FuelBand experience doesn’t end on your wrist. All of the data you capture on your wristband connects to a rich web and mobile experience. It syncs with the Nike+ website, through a built-in USB, or wirelessly through Bluetooth to a free iPhone app to record activity each day and track progress.

The NIKE+ FuelBand will be available for preorder starting January 19 in the U.S. at Nikestore.com for a suggested retail price of $149 (U.S.).

To use Nike+ FuelBand, the following is needed:

- A Macintosh or PC with built-in USB. Mac OS v 10.4 or later, Windows 7 or Windows Vista (SP2) or Windows XP (SP2).

- Internet access. Broadband is recommended.

- Optional mobile app available in the iTunes App store; for updates on compatible mobile devices, visit Nikeplus.com.

Learn more at nike.com/fuelband.

Last week, I experienced Nike’s new SPARQ Sensory Performance innovations in action. I have no doubt in my mind that this new approach to vision training in conjunction with all other aspects of physical training will give an edge to the athletes who utilize these advancements. What’s most interesting is that vision training can be used by athletes of all levels to increase focus, reaction times & anticipation in any sport. I could rattle off a list of athletes off the top of my head that could use vision training immediately: Ahem… Josh Hamilton… Ahem…

SPARQ Sensory Performance is a system of technologies, products and programs designed to assess, analyze and improve an athlete’s visual and sensory performance. It’s another step in Nike’s nearly 40-year legacy of delivering game-changing innovations to help athletes perform at their peak.

“Sensory training is at the cornerstone of how we can build better athletes,” said Paul Winsper, SPARQ Performance Director. “With SSP we’re able to integrate both sensory and physical training together. This performance philosophy has resonated with some of the top athletes, teams and clubs throughout the world.”

Nike SPARQ Sensory Stations

As the first step in improving an athlete’s performance, the SSP “assess” phase uses the Nike SPARQ Sensory Station, an interactive touch screen device, to evaluate athletes on 10 sport-relevant visual and sensory performance skills. The personalized station then translates that raw data into next steps for the athlete, which can guide a training program. The resulting SPARQ Sensory Performance profile compares an athlete’s results to others in their sport, position and skill level to provide a roadmap for improvement.

I underwent these tests and compared my results to all other professional soccer defenders in Nike’s database and I’ll post my results as soon as I get over my embarrassment at my scores. Welp, it seems that countless hours spent pushing pixels isn’t great for my vision or health.

Once the assessment and analysis are complete, Nike SSP provides two key tools designed to help an athlete improve: The Nike SPARQ Sensory Training Station and Nike SPARQ Vapor Strobe Eyewear. Athletes at any skill level can integrate both into their training programs to hone their sensory skills.

Nike SPARQ Vapor Strobe Eyewear

Following visual testing to evaluate different aspects of the athlete’s visual skills, a crucial tool to improve key areas is the Nike SPARQ Vapor Strobe Eyewear. By blocking or disrupting vision using a strobe or flicker effect that can be varied in speed, an athlete can develop quicker reaction times and motor skills. The strobe effect improves reaction time by switching between clear and blocked vision, which trains the brain to anticipate what‘s coming when the eyes are blocked. Features include an adjustable head strap for a secure fit and liquid-crystal lens technology with variable speeds for different levels of training.

“After years of tireless testing, we’ve discovered an innovative way to help increase athletic performance,” said Dr. Alan Reichow, Global Research Director of Nike SPARQ Sensory Performance and Vision. “The SSP ecosystem of testing and products allows our team to serve the athlete with a clear and actionable plan that helps them see sport better.”

The system is already proving effective. Two recent studies* showed that training with the Nike SPARQ Vapor Strobes improved:
1) The ability to pick up subtle motion cues
2) Visual information processing
3) Timing of motion

When looking at the list of athletes that participate in SPARQ Sensory Performance training, I’m not surprised that they’re at the top of their game. Kevin Durant, Larry Fitzgerald, Greg Jennings, Misty May-Treanor, A.J. Pierzynski all get an edge.

“I catch balls for a living. What I do is eye-hand coordination, so any way that I can improve my eye-hand coordination is going to be pivotal throughout my career. The Nike SPARQ Vapor Strobes are a total game changer, a training game changer. You take vision for granted, you take catching the ball for granted but the Vapor Strobes force you to focus on the fundamentals.” -Greg Jennings

Nike SPARQ Sensory Training Stations use software-based training modules to improve multiple sensory performance skills. The stations can be used regularly as an integrated part of training programs for athletes at all levels. Top collegiate and professional programs have purchased the Nike strobe eyewear and stations, with a full global rollout now in action.

The Nike SPARQ Vapor Strobe Eyewear is $300 USD and available Internationally at NikeStore.com. Both the Nike SPARQ Sensory Station and Nike SPARQ Sensory Training Station are available through the Nike SPARQ Sensory Training Help Desk (1-855-870-6778 or NSSTsupport@nike.com).

* Duke University Study: Appelbaum LG, Schroeder JE, Cain MS and Mitroff SR (2011) Improved visual cognition through stroboscopic training. Front. Psychology 2:276. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00276

* Southern Utah University Study: Smith, T.Q. (2011) Sensory Training: Nike Strobe (Master’s thesis). Southern Utah University, Cedar City, UT.

Here’s a new cut of our classic Nokahoma beanie in a few colorways. This is a small preview of our Fall/Winter 2011 collection that is set to hit stores shelves and the We Are the Process Online Boutique this weekend. For info on exact updates, follow the brand on Twitter: @WeAreTheProcess

The folks at New Era have always pushed the envelope when it comes to baseball caps. As a fan of current on-field caps with their cool base technology, I can appreciate these efforts to incorporate new fabrics into their line. The caps are not for the traditionalist as the incorporate designs and textures that might make you stand out in a crowd. That’s a good thing, right? All these styles should be available at the New Era Flagship store in Atlanta very soon.

Check out more materials after the jump and let us know what you think.

Canvas & Cord

Faux Snakeskin

Suede & Elephant

Wool

We just produced a small re-run on our Nokahoma snapbacks in 2 colorways. They’re available now in the We Are the Process online store. Act fast, there aren’t many left. Pick up an Enduro MMXII tee while you’re at it, for a chance to win the “Conquest” bike.

Highlights from Day One of Style X at SXSW2011. Plenty of We Are the Process looks as well as our new friends from Lumete, XRAY Jeans, Cavortress, & Tikkr Watch.