The Strategy Pathfinder, 3rd Edition

8New Ventures

If you’re not innovating you’re dying.

Mark Hipp, Vice President Enterprise Business Comm HP

Technology, sport and fashion have been combined to create a ground-breaking product for cyclists. The smart jacket, made by Google in partnership with Levi, is fashionable and technologically enhanced to enrich the cycling experience. It allows users to control their mobile phones and connect to a variety of services, such as music or maps. By swiping over the sleeve, users will be able to dismiss phone calls, double tap to get directions by accessing Google Maps, swipe up to get directions and down to change music. It will work with Google products and third-party services like Spotify and Strava, and more apps will be added in the future. This makes it attractive for other types of activities that value tracking, such as trekking and running. Flexible fashion-tech could have wide applications including sport, fashion and health. How has this product become possible?

The technology is the creative work of Google’s Project Jacquard, a division of the company’s Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) Group. Conductive fibres are woven directly into the clothing so that motions made over the sleeve register as touch inputs, just like a touch sensitive screen. These are then sent via Bluetooth, an attachment on the cufflink, to your smartphone. The fibres are flexible allowing the garment to be washed, and for the jacket to stretch and compress, both of which are important ...