Earlier in 2015, Google’s ATAP unit demoed a new type of wearable tech at Google I/O.

It applied useful fabrics and conductive yarns to let you communicate with your clothing and, by expansion, the phone in your pocket. 

The company then issued a jacket with Levi’s in 2017, but that was costly, at $350, and never really caught on. 

Now, nevertheless, Jacquard is back. 

Jacquard Returns

Some weeks ago, Saint Laurent introduced a backpack with Jacquard support, but at $1,000, this was a luxury product. 

Now, however, Google and Levi’s are publishing their latest collaboration, Jacquard-equipped versions of Levi’s Trucker Jacket.

These jackets, which will arrive in various styles, include the Classic Trucker and the Sherpa Trucker.

It will be available in men’s and women’s versions and will sell for $198 for the Classic Trucker and $248 for the Sherpa Trucker. 

Adding to the U.S., it will be available in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the U.K.

Jacquard wearables tech to Levi’s Trucker Jacket | iTMunch

What is Jacquard?

The concept here is simple and hasn’t evolved since the original launch.

A dongle in your jacket’s cuff joins to the conductive fibres in your jacket. 

You can then swipe up your cuff, tap it or hold your hand over it to assign commands to your phone. 

You can use the Jacquard phone app for iOS or Android to install what each gesture will do.

With commands varying from preserving your location to bringing up Google Assistant in your headphones,

From jumping to the next song to managing your camera for selfies or just counting things through the day, like the coffee you take on the go. 

If you own Bose noise-cancelling headphones, the app also allows you to set a gesture to switch your noise cancellation on or off. 

Overall, there are currently 19 abilities available, and the dongle also adds a vibration motor for notifications.

Whether Jacquard is meant for you depends upon your lifestyle, though. 

The ideal user is someone who is out and about a lot, using headphones, given that music controls are one of the chief features here. 

But you don’t need to be wearing headphones to get benefit out of Jacquard.

Google wants Jacquard to be more than a gimmick, but at this step, it kind of still is.

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