We've got smart phones, smart homes, smart cars. Everything is getting "smart" these days. In tech terms, this means the items are being linked digitally to combine their functionality with outside software, typically to make things easier, faster or just all around cooler.
Well, the latest smart object is here, as officially announced by Google earlier today. Smart Clothing.
Surely, wearables have been a trend all year: booming during CES (Vegas's Consumer Electronics Show) and in blogs and startups. But Google's announcement today of PROJECT JACQUARD is one of the first unveilings that just might be able to bring this trend mainstream.
Project Jacquard intermixes software development and fashion design to create conductive textile material that can be woven into any fabric to create "smart fabric".
The video released on Project Jacquard (check it out on TechCrunch here) is pretty convincing. As is the fact that Google announced it is partnering with Levi's to bring Jacquard-enabled clothing to the market.
Look, Google isn't a fashion company, so the partnership makes sense. Plus, how better to make this new technology open to the masses than in a trusty pair of blue jeans from Levi's!
The exact capabilities that will be woven into these jeans are still undefined. In fact, the video touts, "Jacquard is a blank canvas for designers, we are excited to see what people are going to do with it".
So, this begs the question..... if you were to buy "Smart Jeans" from Levi's, what would you want them to be able to do!?
