When you first slip on the smart jacket that Levi's and Google teamed up to make, you might forget for a second that it's anything other than a run-of-the-mill denim jacket.
And that's what makes it so great.
The jacket — technically called the Levi's Commuter Trucker Jacket with Jacquard by Google — debuted in September. It looks like a standard denim jacket, but one cuff has conductive threads woven in and a place to snap on a Bluetooth tag that pairs with your phone. The jacket costs $350 and is available on the Levi's website.
The Jacquard jacket is for a very specific type of person — namely, someone who commutes by bicycle. The idea is that if you're riding your bike and wearing headphones, you can leave your phone in your pocket and use the jacket to control the more crucial things like directions and music. It's intended to eliminate distractions and keep you safe without sacrificing your constant need to be connected.
I've been wearing the jacket on and off over the last few months. I don't commute by bike, so I'm not exactly the intended customer. But I do write about different types of wearables, and I love fashion. If anyone should be excited about this product, it's me.
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The Jacquard jacket is a great jacket in its own right, which is entirely thanks to Levi's.
My main takeaway after trying the jacket was that Google made a smart move in teaming up with Levi's to make it.
Google realized something about wearable technology that few other companies have: It's very difficult to design an incredible piece of technology that's also a beautiful thing people want to wear. With so many other wearables, brands easily deliver on the technology part and fall short on the style part, simply because fashion usually isn't in a tech company's wheelhouse.
But if you want to make a product people wear on their body, you need to keep style in mind. That's why outsourcing the design part to a company that's been around for nearly 200 years, that already makes clothing people love, and that knows denim better than anyone, was the smartest choice Google could have made.
It wasn't the most flattering garment I've ever worn.
The Jacquard jacket fit perfectly. I guessed at my size and was delighted when it arrived, since it fit me like a glove.
Still, I didn't love the way it looked on me, and that hindered me from wearing it more often. The sleeves were a bit too wide and the overall fit was very boxy. I thought that might just be me, but it looks about the same on the model on Levi's site.
I think the boxy fit may have something to do with the fact that the jacket is essentially unisex, but it definitely seemed intended for a man's torso instead of a woman's.
And while I'm not a bike commuter, I did actually try wearing it while biking and it was surprisingly great. By tapping or swiping on the connected sleeve, you can use the jacket to control music, get directions, or hear notifications, all without taking out your phone. I was skeptical about biking in denim, but I ended up changing my mind by the end of an hour-long ride. The jacket keeps you warm against the wind without feeling overheated, has reflectors on the back for safety, and has a flap in the back to cover your lower back just in case your pants slip too low.
The technology works extremely well — but is it technology you actually need?
Despite weeks of using the jacket, I'm still torn about the actual tech itself.
On a surface level, it's excellent. The Jacquard app— which is available for Android and iOS — is a beautiful, easy-to-use app that makes it super-simple to set up and pair your jacket.
For a first-time product, the Jacquard jacket was essentially glitch-free. It stayed paired with my phone and easily handled incoming calls, changing songs, or accessing my next direction. Google also just added three new features: the option to make the tag illuminate by tapping or swiping (it already flashes when you have an incoming call), a find-your-phone option, and the ability to have it tell you what song is playing.
If there's one downside to the product as a whole, it's that there are only a handful of different motions you can program: swiping on the cuff left or right, double tapping, or covering the whole thing with your hand. You can re-map those commands are much as you want, but you may need to keep changing the commands based on what you're doing that day.
I didn't like this aspect of the jacket because I prefer to set something up once and forget about it. Plus, trying to remember whether I had to swipe or tap to answer a call got pretty frustrating.
But the question that lingered throughout my time using the jacket is whether this is technology the world needs just yet. I could imagine a San Francisco-based (male) programmer loving the concept and using the jacket during his morning commute, but it wouldn't be necessary for someone who commutes by car or rail. I suppose having this type of technology while walking somewhere — particularly in New York or just an unfamiliar city — would be convenient, but not exactly a must-have.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider