At South By Southwest in Austin this week, Google and Levi's unveiled a smart jacket that the two companies have collaborated on, which will be available to consumers this fall for a cool $350. The jacket, which seems geared primarily to cyclists, will allow a wearer to change songs on a playlist or get directions via taps or swipes on the cuff, as Consumerist tells us, with a wireless connection to the person's mobile device.
The release has been pushed back from an earlier announced spring date, as The Verge reports, and the project marks a first-time use of conductive, touch-sensitive fabric developed by Google's Project Jacquard, a part of their ATAP R&D division.
Conductive yarns are apparently woven into the clothing and are machine washable, but a removable "tag" on the cuff appears to be the primary mode of touch control, and that is supposed to be removed before washing.
It's unclear why the conductive yarns are necessary if the clipped on tag is the main remote control here, it's not clear why it couldn't be clipped onto any article of clothing and do the same thing.
But figure it out for yourself via the promotional video below, which because it's always jacket weather in SF, was shot right here in town.
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