Levi’s-Google jacket – the last word in wearable technology

At first glance, the new ''Levi's Commuter x Jacquard by Google Trucker Jacket'' appears to be a straightforward piece of clothing. There's nothing that shouts technology – no flashing screens, no hefty battery packs, no suggestion that it does anything more than just look good.

In fact, explore a little closer and the only unusual thing you'll spot on this jean jacket is a slight error in the weave alongside a black strap partially wrapped around the cuff of the sleeve, modelled as a version of what you'd find on a trench coat.

Announced on Friday at Google I/O, the item is a subtle piece of wearable technology, and the outcome of the yearlong collaboration between Levi Strauss & Co and Google's Advanced Technology and Products (ATAP) group, under the banner of Project Jacquard.

''Last year we left it quite open [what the product might be]; it could have been jeans or smart pants. But what we've now got is a functional and fashionable garment in the Commuter Jacket, where technology is serving a very clear purpose,'' explains Ivan Poupyrev, technical program lead at Google's ATAP, on a call ahead of today's announcement.

Designed specifically to meet the needs of urban cyclists, the ''error'' found in the denim weave is in fact home to Jacquard technology – a conductive yarn that enables touch interactivity. Users can tap, swipe or hold on the left cuff of the sleeve to fulfil simple tasks like changing music tracks, blocking or answering calls or accessing navigation information (delivered by voice) – all functions that can be sustained while riding, instead of having to pull a phone out to do them. The strap is what then holds the necessary electronics to connect the garment on the go.

Explains Paul Dillinger, vice president of global product innovation at Levi's, ''Wearables as a category is potentially vast and we didn't want to get lost in that territory. When Google started talking about the value of the solution, to us it was somewhat valueless unless it could be assigned to a very explicit problem … what we came up with was the urban cyclist, and once we got our heads around the fact this had amazing potential for the guy and girl we're already talking to who loves their Levi's, loves riding their bike, and can really use this help, then the ideation process around the function became quite natural and fluid.''

The user can essentially program the textile interface so their gestures have meanings that activate preferred functions. Using the Jacquard platform's accompanying app, they can configure what they want primary and secondary uses to be from some of the aforementioned options ahead of time. They can also link to other known platforms including Spotify and GPS tracker Strava.

Poupyrev says, ''We don't want to define what functionality is the most important, so we've given categories for users to choose from … wearables to date have just been able to do one thing, in our case the garment does what you want it to do.''

The idea is that the user experience of the jacket itself is incredibly intuitive – a swipe or brush skips a music track, a tap can mute it, for instance. But getting to that point had as much to do with the look and feel of the item as it did with what the tech capability would be.

If there's been one criticism of wearable technology in the marketplace to date, it's very simply that it looks too much like technology. For Google and Levi's therefore, the quest became about making something that was in tune with items we already like to wear (ie fashionable).

''One of the biggest realizations we had in understanding how fashion and technology can work together is just how much tension there is … it's not just that wearables are not fashionable, the problem is that if you're trying to take a garment and put technology through it, then that technology cannot fundamentally compromise the appearance, or the authenticity of the garment,'' Poupyrev notes. ''But trying to be authentic to the garment imposes very important design constraints, which also give you answers in the process of development.''

''Initially there was appetite from the technologists to make the activated space on the denim as explicit as possible, and to say 'here I am, this is where I function','' Dillinger explains. ''For us, it was about hiding it; that space for function should only be known to the wearer… It's almost like a magician's trick – the technology should not be apparent at all, you just look good, that's all.''

The strap, or smart tag, also aims to blend in. Poupyrev and Dillinger knew there couldn't be a cable that came with the jacket if it were to be taken seriously as a fashion item for instance, so the tag houses a USB connecter in order for it to be charged (roughly every few days). The snap button atop it then has a haptic motor in it for vibration feedback and a subtle LED light that glows to notify or help direct the user on their travels.