Google team up with Levi's to create wearable technology

Wearable technology has become the new development in fashion within a tech savvy generation. Despite the technology being new, businesses that have adopted the strategy earlier have gained great market share. With 77% of wearable technology relating to fitness, it is already difficult to compete with the likes of Apple, Nike and Fitbit unless you are bringing something new to the market

Levi's and Google have therefore teamed up in 'Project Jacquard' to produce the first 'smart' denim jacket for urban street cyclists. The project has looked to integrate technology within the jacket to produce a product that allows cyclists to access capabilities on their smartphones such as changing music, receive directions, accept and reject incoming calls as well as many more features. As displayed in the video below, a technology on the sleeve cuff allows cyclists to run their hand over it to perform different actions while on the busy streets.

Levi's Project Jacquard

Google were one of the first businesses to attempt wearable technology in 2010 with the ‘Google Glasses’ which famously did not take off as well as they hoped. Despite this, Google have developed their technology to be able to be thinly woven within materials creating technology that looked attractive as well as producing actions brand new to consumers. Teaming up with Levi’s could be a great direction from Google as the glasses very much lacked in ‘style’ and therefore this could be the answer.

Wearable technology is very new to consumers and therefore is really exciting to both consumers and marketers. The technology is opening new and different ways to access the consumer and understand their behaviors in detail. Taking out the phone screen time with this wearable technology it will be interesting to see how marketing adapts their methods within their communications streams to their target audiences.