Frank Rudy was the first person to have the idea of putting air cushioning in a shoe. His inspiration comes from the night set designs of spacecraft at NASA - where he works every day.
Immediately after the idea came up, he approached Nike's development department. Realizing the potential of the technology, Nike tried it out with its own shoe, Nike Tailwind, and in 1978. This product had an air cushion inside. However, this air cushion is completely hidden in the shoe.
This product did not get much success after its inception and was quickly forgotten. See also: Top 7 of the best shoe cushion technologies by Nike
