In the era where Internet of Things (IoT) is a commonly used term, more and more things get connected with each other. The upcoming release of Levi’s in collaboration with Google, the Jacquard Trucker Jacket, shows the newest developments in that field.
In the sleeve of the Levi’s jacket, a small tag combined with touch sensitive fabric is included. The ‘Jacquard Tag’ connects the jacket to your phone. It’s connected via Bluetooth and communicates with the Jacquard app. By personalizing your settings in the app, you can let the tag function exactly as you like, choosing the abilities and gestures you want. The featured abilities enable you to take photos, answer calls, and play music right from your sleeve. Jacquard also provides the user with alarms – like when you left your phone somewhere – by using vibrations and light (Google, 2019).
In 2017 an earlier version of this jacket was already on the market. This time, the jackets are going to be less expensive, more widely available and will look much more like the original versions of the Levi’s jacket. Also, the tag is not going to be weaved into the cuff anymore and is much smaller (The Verge, 2019). The jacket can still do the same as the older version, but with new features. One single gesture can now trigger a photo, the “My Day” feature will tell you your daily schedule, and “Ask Assistant” can be used for commands of your choice including the weather forecast or jokes. Especially “Ask Assistant” gives Jacquard a whole new level of functionality (9to5google, 2019).
This all sounds very exciting but leaves us with some questions too. When we already have a lot of gadgets with similar functions like Bluetooth headphones, are these features really going to attract a lot of buyers? What new problem are they trying to solve that is not already solved?
“Google” (2019) Accessed on 2 October 2019 on https://atap.google.com/jacquard/collaborations/levi-trucker/
“The Verge” (2019) Accessed on 2 October 2019 on https://www.theverge.com/2019/9/30/20888909/google-levi-project-jacquard-available-trucker-sherpa-jackets-price-design
“9to5google” (2019) Accessed on 2 October 2019 on https://9to5google.com/2019/09/30/levis-trucker-jacket-jacquard/
