About two years ago, Google and Levi's announced their plans to work together on touch-sensitive clothing. And last year, the prototype of the connected smart jacket was showed off, but details like the launch date and price were still concealed. However, onstage the SXSW festival in Austin, the smart jacket got a price tag, and an estimated launch date as well.
Levi's global product innovation head Paul Dillinger and Advanced Technology and Projects Group's (ATAP) Project Jacquard lead Ivan Poupyrev held a discussion on the future of connectivity, where it was announced that the connected smart jacket would cost around $350 (Rs 23,000 approximately), which is also the first commercial product containing Google's ATAP division's Project Jacquard technology.
As for the launch, Levi's Commuter Trucker Jacket, as the product is called, during it first announcement at the Google I/O developer conference 2016 got a spring 2017 release date, that has now been pushed to the Fall 2017.
Essentially, the technology uses conductive fabric to turn a standard article of clothing into a connected device of sorts that can send instructions to your smartphone, like pausing or skipping a song that's playing by double tapping your wrist. In fact it works similarly to a smartwatch, just that it won't be as conspicuous, and coming from Levi's, we could expect it to gel with the daily fashion more easily. ALSO READ: This Rs 33,500 shirt changes color when exposed to pollution, but does it solve anything?
From what the earlier mentions have revealed so far, we know that the Commuter Trucker jacket is waterproof, except for a detachable electronic smart tag that activates a wireless connection between the clothing and a mobile device. It also houses a USB connecter in order for it to be charged (roughly every few days). The snap button on top of it has a haptic motor in it for vibration feedback and a subtle LED light that glows to notify or help direct the user on their travels. "If you get this thing dirty, you put it in the washing machine," Paul Dillinger had said during Google's annual developer conference in in 2016.
Lately, Google has been seeing taking its interest in wearables a little more seriously. In a very recent project, Google, together with fashion brand H&M's digital fashion house Ivyrevel, announced their efforts to make data fashionable. The two companies are together creating an Android app, which will create a 'Coded Couture' for a user based on their personal data. Essentially, with this app, the partnership aims to offer a technology that will create merchandise for users, based on their habits, needs and personality. ALSO READ: Google, Ivyrevel partner to create custom dresses based on your personal data
BONUS VIDEO: The Weirdest Gadgets from CES 2017 Published: March 14, 2017 9:57 AM IST | Updated: March 14, 2017 9:57 AM ISTSource: Google, Levi's smart jack will release this fall, to cost around $350
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