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29 March 2024

Shirts and jeans to interact with your phone

Google is in the process of developing a new type of yarn that could well content anything that you are wearing into a smart attire. (AFP)

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By Joseph George

Google is in the process of developing a new type of yarn that could well content anything that you are wearing into a smart attire.

Very soon you will be able to control your smartphone or wearable gadget right from the shirt you are wearing or the chair you might be sitting on.

Google has announced its new Project Jacquard and has also announced that, to start with, it is tying up with jeans maker Levi Strauss to make jeans that could be touch sensitive and communicate with smartphones.

The new project basically assimilates technology into the fabric, making it possible to weave touch and gesture interactivity into any textile.




The project will involve Google to develop new conductive yarns, created in collaboration with its industrial partners like Levis.

The current industry standard looms will be used for the project. “Jacquard yarn structures combine thin, metallic alloys with natural and synthetic yarns like cotton, polyester, or silk, making the yarn strong enough to be woven on any industrial loom,” it notes, adding that the material are indistinguishable from the traditional yarns that are used to produce fabrics.

The technology would involve conductive woven into precise locations to enable touch and gesture-sensitivity thereby creating large, interactive surfaces.


“The complementary components are engineered to be as discreet as possible. We developed innovative techniques to attach the conductive yarns to connectors and tiny circuits, no larger than the button on a jacket. These miniaturized electronics capture touch interactions, and various gestures can be inferred using machine-learning algorithms,” said Google.

The captured touch and gesture data is then wirelessly transmitted to mobile phones or other devices to control a wide range of functions, connecting the user to online services, apps, or phone features.

Google also notes that LEDs, haptics, and other embedded outputs provide feedback to the user, thereby connecting them to the digital world.

Google also notes that the production cost will remain low. “Jacquard components are cost-efficient to produce, and the yarns and fabrics can be manufactured with standard equipment used in mills around the world.


One loom can generate as many different textile designs as there are people on the planet. Now that same loom can also weave in interactivity.”

According to Google, you can build the new technology into not just clothing but into furniture as well.

“Everyday objects such as clothes and furniture can be transformed into interactive surfaces,” it said on the project website.

The new project it hopes will allow designers and developers to build connected, touch-sensitive textiles into their own products. “This is just the beginning, and we're very excited to see what people will do with it…

Designers can use it as they would any fabric, adding new layers of functionality to their designs, without having to learn about electronics.

Developers will be able to connect existing apps and services to Jacquard-enabled clothes and create new features specifically for the platform.

We are also developing custom connectors, electronic components, communication protocols, and an ecosystem of simple applications and cloud services,” announced Google.