Gateway garments

Mountain View, California – Google and Levi’s are joining forces for Project Jacquard, a venture dedicated to creating interactive textiles.

• Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects unit has developed conductive yarn with textile manufacturers in Japan
• Will enable wearers to use their clothes as a touchscreen interface, compatible with their mobile devices

Named after the inventor of the first programmable loom, Project Jacquard makes it possible to weave touch and gesture interactivity into any textile, using standard industrial looms. Although in its infancy, Google and Levi’s envisage a future where clothes and furniture can be transformed into interactive surfaces.

‘If there’s a chance to enable the clothes we already love to help us facilitate access to the best and most necessary of this digital world – while still maintaining eye contact with the person we are eating dinner with – this is of real value,’ Paul Dillinger, vice-president of innovation at Levi’s, told delegates at Google’s I/O 2015 developer conference.

The Big Picture: Just because their mobile devices are always-on doesn’t mean consumers want to be as well. Consider how you can design fluid and functional digital experiences that enable consumers to balance their online and offline worlds with our Awakening Tech macrotrend.