Autolacing is a fundamentally bad idea. It means that each step will be weighed down by a motor, battery, and radio that are used only for a second when you put on the shoe. It's like everyone forgot that Nike has been marketing lighter shoes since their inception.
This was my first thought as well. How is it the article doesn't mention weight at all? Still I imagine it wouldn't be that hard to move the weight out of the shoe. The shoe could expose a cord that you hook in to a separate machine to provide the force for tightening.
The application here is professional sports. In that context every tiny bit of weight matters. And they're not really "on the go" - they could just keep the machine on the sidelines.
