The idea with the jacket, explained Poupyrev, was to make something that’s both fashionable to wear while also representing a practical implementation of the technology. Cyclists often have to fuss with their phone while commuting on busy streets, which is dangerous. With Levi’s Commuter jacket, they’ll instead be able to just touch their jacket’s sleeve instead, using gestures. A Jacquard tag is embedded in the sleeve making this functionality possible, and it can be pulled out and charged via USB. That makes the jacket durable. Plus, the company stressed, you can use it like any other article of clothing – wad it up, throw it in the wash, etc. In addition to controlling native phone functions like calls, maps, and music, Google says the jackets will also interoperate with third party services. That means you’ll be able to use the touches to control your Spotify music, for example, or a connected fitness app. More importantly, the jacket isn’t some far off pipe dream, as it turns out – it will “launch” into beta testing this fall, and then become publicly available in spring 2017.
