The denim jacket is available for testing at the SXSW event, now taking place in Austin (USA). The 9to5Google explains that technology consists of four parts, the garment itself, the strip of Jacquard fabric on the handle, the Jacquard tag, which houses the electronic components and the Jacquard app for your smartphone. The fabric on the handle is touch sensitive and stays connected to the Jacquard tag, a flexible plastic component that you attach to the jacket. It is removable so you can wash the garment as well. The device houses the Bluetooth antenna that will be paired with the smartphone, and a battery that can last up to two days and has a LED that lights up to notify you that pairing was successful and to alert you when you receive notifications on your phone.
Going to the smartphone, the Jacquard app is not exactly ready yet but already shows its potential: it allows you to control music, know the current time and answer (or refuse) phone calls. For now, there are few predefined gestures – sliding right, sliding left and tapping twice – but Google is working on two more. The “Genie” requires a circular movement of the finger in the tissue, and the “Cover” involves placing the entire hand over the wrist.
The Commuter Trucker jacket will be the first commercial product of the Jacquard project, created by Google’s ATAP division, but may be too expensive. The same Trucker line has models that cost about $100 in the US. Is the difference in price justified? We’ll know for sure when it’s released later this year. So, what do you think about this smart jacket? Simply share your views in the comment section below.
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