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Late last month Levi's announced the second generation of their partnership with Google to build Jacquard Tags into some of the clothing brand's denim jackets.
The new 2019 style is an evolution of the original Levi's jacket, first released in 2017, which was aimed at bike commuters to enable safer, hands-free access to their phones.
While the partnership may seem unlikely, Ivan Poupyrev, director of engineering at Google, says the jacket is a new attempt at wearable technology. He hopes a "smart jacket" will encourage consumers to look up from their screens and interact with the world around them.
“Can things become a way for us to interact with our digital life? Can the world become your interface?” he asked in his April 2019 TED talk. Poupyrev claims that wearables need to be something people actually want to wear, alluding to the Google Glass flop of 2013.
How Does the Jacket Work?
The tags within the jacket cuffs will function similarly to a smartwatch. Built directly into the jacket sleeve, the tags wirelessly connect to smartphones via Bluetooth.
Wearers will be able to use hand gestures like swiping, touching, and tapping the jacket cuff to enable features such as Google's My Day, which triggers time, weather, traffic conditions, and calendar events. Also included is the aptly-named feature known as Always Together, which functions similarly to a Tile Bluetooth tracker and will notify users if they've accidentally left their phone behind. Other cuff features include controlling music, access to Google Assistant, calling, messaging, navigation, and ride-hailing apps.
Levi's, which has been a part of the fashion industry since 1853, will be offering men's and women's Trucker and Sherpa jackets with tag integration in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, U.K., and U.S. markets. The Trucker will cost $198 and the Sherpa will cost $248.
A New Generation of Smart Clothing
Levi's smart jackets are only one example of the next generation of wearable tech that Google is looking to roll out in the future. Google also recently partnered with luxury brand Yves Saint Laurent to build a smart backpack in September, but it had a much higher price tag of $995.
Google's jackets and bags are just the beginning of a new generation of wearable technology, with other startups rolling out everything from connected sneakers to pajamas.
However, Levi's smart jacket still has room for improvement; the Jacquard technology can only be washed about 10 times before it stops working. This may seem like a tiny number considering how often we do laundry, but Levi's CEO Chip Bergh thinks otherwise; in 2014 he made headlines after announcing he hasn't washed his jeans in over a year, primarily for environmental reasons, but denim supposedly doesn't even need it.
TheNextWeb estimates if you wash your smart jacket in accordance with Levi's recommended washing frequency, the jacket will last about five years, at which point this version of Jacquard Tags will likely be outdated considering the pace of wearable technology today.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Google
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