Remember the project that Google shared at last year Google I/O in partnership with Levis? Under the technology codename, The Project Jacquard, Google and Levis planned to bring “smart garments” to the market. This would be made possible using conductive fabric woven into Levis commuter jacket to create an interactive patch that senses touch, pressure and gesture.
The good news is that the jacket is almost ready and will be sold via Levis in Spring 2017 though if you are lucky enough, you can get hold of the beta product in the Fall of 2016.
The jacket has two different parts to it. First is the conductive fabric itself whereas the second is the Bluetooth enabled loop you connect to the cuff of your jacket. The jacket itself and the conductive fabric has been made using standard Levis garment so it can be washed, worn and treated like any other jacket however, before washing, the wearer needs to remove the Bluetooth cuff.
The inbuilt capability will work with the call and message apps, Google Play Music and Maps and third-party apps from Spotify and Strava. Though, the best part of this jacket will be APIs. The developers will be able to make their apps talk to the jacket using well-instructed APIs so over time, one can expect many apps to work with the garment. This will evolve into a platform that Levi can take advantage of in the future by making similar products designed for specific audience such as businessmen or athletes.