The partnership between Google And Levi’s was announced in 2015, when the two companies revealed Project Jacquard, with a promise of smart clothes capable of communicating with smartphones. Two years later, the project got its first consumer-ready product in the form of a smart jacket called The Commuter. The Commuter will be released during fall 2017 with a $350 price tag.
The Commuter got announced during 2016 Google I/O conference, as the first product coming from the Project Jacquard. The price and launch date were unveiled at SXSW 2017. The smart jacket features a capacitive touchpad placed on the left sleeve. The touchpad allows users to input commands in the form of taps and swipes.
The commands can be programmed, so you can answer calls by tapping, playing music by double tapping or swiping up in order for the jacket to tell the user the current time. At the moment the jacket works only with Google apps, but the software giant is trying to find ways to allow third party developers to use the platform.
The functions are mapped via Project Jacquard app. All you have to do is to drag and drop functions to different commands, with more gestures coming later allowing a wider specter of functions. The smart jacket features a battery that should last two days and that can be charged through a USB port.
The Commuter will come with some kind of water protection (it would be pretty laughable if the jacket was unable to be used in rain), and the jacket will feature a classic Levi’s design. We have to wait for the jacket to come out in order to see whether it will be a viable and usable piece of smart clothing or will it end as just another cool idea that failed to perform in real life conditions.