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Levi’s will ‘supplement’ human models with AI-generated fakes
Levi’s is partnering with an AI company on computer-generated fashion models to “supplement human models.” The company frames the move as part of a “digital transformation journey” of diversity, equity, inclusion and sustainability.
Amazon's personal shopping subscription now includes men's fashion
Amazon’s personal shopping subscription service, launched in July for women’s fashion, is now available for men. Personal Shopper by Prime Wardrobe will now include thousands of menswear items from brands like Adidas, Lacoste, Scotch 7 Soda, Levi’s and Carhartt, along with its exclusive Amazon Essentials and GoodThreads labels.
Google and Levi’s smart jacket gets a small but useful update
Three years ago, when Google and Levi's announced their smart jacket, the tech industry's obsession with wearables was at its peak. Fitness trackers and smartwatches were proliferating, while every other day a new item of clothing was getting the connected treatment. At the time (and even today), the Levi's Commuter Trucker jacket had a refreshingly simple premise. It's a garment targeted at cyclists (or, y'know, jean-jacket wearers) who can shell out $350 to avoid repeatedly whipping out their phone while traveling. It has touch-sensitive fibers woven into the cuff so you can swipe or tap on your wrist to carry out quick tasks thanks to Google's Jacquard technology. Jacquard's not here to track your fitness or run your life -- it just wants to make your commute a bit easier.
Levi's uses lasers to give your jeans an eco-friendly finish
You may like the thought of jeans with a worn-in finish, but that look frequently comes at a steep cost. It not only takes a long time to finish jeans (two to three pairs per hour), it frequently involves thousands of chemical formulations. Levi's thinks there's a faster and more environmentally responsible way. It recently introduced Project FLX, a system that uses lasers to finish denim. The technique involves taking photos of the jeans and illustrating them-- the laser then gently marks the jeans based on that illustration to create the simulated wear. This cuts the finishing time from several minutes or more to just 90 seconds, and whittles the number of necessary chemicals down to a "a few dozen."
Levi’s is already working with Google on a second smart jacket
Levi's connected denim jacket went on sale three weeks ago, but CEO Chip Bergh said it's already working with Google on version 2.0 of the Project Jacquard platform. At Wall Street Journal's D. Live conference, Bergh said that he'd like new clothing to have even more functionality. If it's a feature that doesn't require a screen, he said, then there's a possibility it could be incorporated into the next Levi's and Google collaboration.
Levi’s Google-powered smart jacket goes on sale next week
Earlier this year, we discussed how Levi's was working on a smart jacket in connection with the Google Advanced Technology and Products group's Project Jacquard. Now, after much anticipation, the jacket is ready and will be available on Levi.com (and in some Levi's stores) on October 2nd. If you're really eager to take a look, you'll find it in some boutiques on Wednesday. It will set you back $350.
Fashion and technology will inevitably become one
There's no denying that the technology world is obsessed with fashion. Amazon, Apple and Google, three of the biggest names in tech, are all trying to carve their own path into the fashion space. Apple's doing so with fancy smartwatches; Amazon with a shopping platform and voice-controlled cameras; and Google with conductive fabrics embedded in a smart jacket made by Levi's. And the interest is mutual. Fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld, Chanel's creative director, has expressed his love for tech by experimenting with partially 3D-printed pieces and runway shows that simulate a rocket launch. He's not the only one either. Zac Posen, with help from fashion house Marchesa, worked with IBM's Watson supercomputer to create a cognitive dress that lights up and changes colors based on activity on social media.
The Levi's Commuter smart jacket has a ton of promise
Google's mission with its Advanced Technology and Products group is to create innovations like Project Jacquard, which can turn objects into interactive, gesture-controlled surfaces. With the Levi's Commuter jacket, introduced in 2016, the technology comes to life through a conductive fabric and a Bluetooth device that attaches to the garment. The connected area consists of 15 threads on the left sleeve, just visible enough for you to know where to touch to trigger actions from a paired smartphone.
The smart jacket from Google and Levi's arrives this fall for $350
It's been nearly two years since Google and Levi's announced their plans to work on connected garments, an idea born out of the tech giant's Advanced Technology and Products group. The first piece of this project is a connected jacket called the Commuter, which uses Google's Jacquard technology to turn its denim fabric into a gesture-controlled canvas. Although we knew it'd be launching as a consumer product eventually, until today both the price and ship date were unknown. But at SXSW, during a panel titled Beyond the Screens: the Ubiquity of Connectivity, Google and Levi's revealed that the smart trucker jacket will arrive this fall for $350.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: A VW bug made out of timber
Six years ago a Beijing company proposed an insane lane-straddling bus that could soar over congested freeways. The project just took a step closer to reality, as the Transit Explore Bus is set to begin testing this summer. In other transportation news, Airbus just unveiled the world's first 3D-printed motorcycle, which has a range of 37 miles and a top speed of 50 mph. Hyperloop Transportation Technologies announced plans to build transit pods from Vibranium, which takes its name from the fictional metal used to create Captain America's indestructible shield. A Bosnian retiree handcrafted a gorgeous VW bug exterior from over 50,000 pieces of oak. Vanmoof launched the SmartBike -- a next-gen cycle that is virtually impossible to steal -- and Google partnered with Levi's to create a smart jacket for urban cyclists.
ICYMI: Smart coats, robot whiskers and vaporizing lasers
Today on In Case You Missed It: Google and Levi's team up to make a smart Canadian Tuxedo jacket, the University of Bristol teaches a whiskered robot to react to stimuli and Stanford's Linear Accelerator fries water droplets with an X-ray laser, because science!
Google and Levis are releasing their smart jacket early next year
Google and Levis announced a partnership at Google I/O last year that would bring "smart clothing" to the market using a technology codenamed Project Jacquard. The tech, which is basically composed of conductive fabric woven into the garment to create an interactive patch that senses touch, pressure and even your hand's position before you touch the fabric. It's a wild idea, and this year Google's Advanced Technology and Products (ATAP) group is showing it off in an upcoming product: the Levis Commuter jacket with Jacquard technology built right in.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: serpentine solar, sustainable studios and shape-shifting shade
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. This week we warmed up for cool days ahead by taking a look inside an incredible igloo made from 322 recycled refrigerators. We also showcased several feats of architecture that harness high-tech systems to achieve exceptional levels of efficiency - the ultra-modern world's most sustainable broadcasting studio, and Santiago Calatrava's shape-shifting pavilion for the Milwaukee Art Museum. We also saw transportation get a solar-powered supercharge as designer Mans Tham unveiled plans for a serpentine photovoltaic skin for the Santa Monica Freeway. If that seems a bit ostentatious for your taste, then check out this award-winning plan to create roads using sand and bacteria instead of oil. And speaking of eco infrastructure, this week we were thrilled to see the launch of the world's first wireless electric vehicle charger in the UK. We also showcased several new horizons for ultra-efficient lighting as we shared our top ten picks for stylish LED desk lamps, and took a look at a new interactive night light adorned with fun illuminated Glo balls. Finally, we were blown away by Levi's new WaterLess jeans, which can be produced using up to 96% less water than de rigueur dungarees.
LG's Xnote Mini X120 Levi's Special Edition for Deadheads and truckers
When your netbook is too bulky to fit in the back pocket then sometimes, not always, but sometimes you just have to bring the back-pocket to the netbook. Meet LG's Levi special edition of its Xnote Mini X120. It's exactly like the regular X120 running XP and Splashtop-powered "Smart On" OS only now with Levi graphics and an obligatory denim laptop sleeve just as you'd expect. More pics after the break because sometimes a man needs more than a monkey.
Orange France gets exclusive on Levi's 3G slider
Not just jeans friends, ModeLabs Group's Levi's handset is also all about the 3G experience, at least for Orange France users. This clunky slider features triple-band GSM, 2100MHz UMTS, 2 megapixel cam, Bluetooth, FM radio, and a microSD slot to extend the storage for your digital media. Orange is even offering to fill your memory card slot with a 1GB card and give you somewhere to put it with a Jean pocket-shaped case if you get there soon enough. We saw Levi's first branded set some time ago and it's encouraging to see them stepping up with faster data services -- well at least UMTS. Who knows, we may one day see some on this side of the world.[Via MobileBurn]
Levi's phone passes FCC on way to Mexico
We're still not sure what to make of the way this thing looks -- nor the fact that the FCC was supplied with the gaudiest gold version, nor the fact that Levi's decided its name fits well embossed on the front of the cellphone -- but alas, here it is. Turns out the ModeLabs-designed phone is being manufactured by South Korea's Ezze Mobile Tech and it rocks out with GSM 850 and 1900. Don't get too stoked about an American release, though; the user's manual clearly identifies Mexico as the intended target, but we imagine Americans and Canadians should have no trouble getting it working in their respective necks of the woods. Just don't get caught slipping it into another brand's pockets, k?
Levi's to make jump from jeans to phones
Perhaps hoping to cash in on the apparent success of other joint ventures pairing the equally fickle fashion and cellphone industries, Levi's European outpost has announced a partnership with ModeLabs of France to slap the beloved Levi name and likeness on a series of handsets. The deal should come to fruition next year, though terms and product details were not announced (why must you torment us so, Levi?). This isn't the first time ModeLabs has done the fashionphone thing, so there's an inkling of hope these guys know what they're doing here -- but if we end up with something like a denim-clad RAZR, we're going to throw a fit.[Via I4U News]
Levi's iPod Jeans -- break the bank, look like a dork
To be honest, we're still not sure exactly how much these RedWire DLX iPod Jeans from Levi's will retail for, but we're guessing the price-to-fashion ratio will be astronomical. At least the RedWire moniker is explained by a snazzy red ribbon that tethers your iPod to its assigned sidepocket, but the dork factor is quite evident in the retractable headphone doo-hickey and the overly obvious control pad. Or is that the whole point? We never claimed to be fashionable ourselves, only to be practiced in lambastating the fashion of others. Keep reading for a picture of the dorkiness in full effect (i.e. no sexy models to get in the way).[Via PSFK]
