Levi’s has premiered a new Commuter Trucker jacket powered by Google. The garment promises to become the ultimate co-pilot for urban bikers, and represents the first commercial partnership for Google’s “Project Jacquard” wearable technology.
The collaboration between two leaders from completely different fields was presented last week, and is the culmination of a year-long cooperation between Levi’s Innovation team and Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) group.
Project Jacquard weaves a gesture-controlled, user interface directly into the jacket, giving cyclists wireless access to their phone and favorite mobile apps at the touch of a sleeve – for example, to adjust music volume, silence a phone call or calculate estimated arrival time.
“Anyone on a bike knows that navigating your screen while navigating busy city streets isn’t easy – or a particularly good idea,” said Paul Dillinger, head of global product innovation at Levi’s. “This jacket helps to resolve that real-world challenge by becoming the co-pilot for your life, on and off your bike.”
Project Jacquard was presented last year as Google’s latest innovation, and uses the idea of using standard industrial looms to weave touch- and gesture-interactivity into any textile, and transforming everyday objects like clothes and furniture into interactive surfaces.
“From the beginning, we weren’t looking for co-branding but co-creation. We wanted a great apparel brand like Levi’s to work with, because we bring such different strengths to the table. We don’t know much about what it takes to make [apparel], and the same the other way round for them with the technology,” Ivan Poupyrev, ATAP’s technical program head told Forbes.
As a first step, the partnership gives credibility and authenticity to Google. Levi’s, meanwhile, continues to pedal along the innovation route.