Wearable tech - Google and Levi's collaborate on 'smart' cycling jacket

A year after they announced their Project Jacquard collaboration to develop clothing that is integrated with technology, Levi’s and Google have unveiled the first product from the partnership to see the light of day.

Aimed chiefly at bike riders, the Levi's Commuter x Jacquard by Google Trucker Jacket’s denim fabric allows cyclists to send commands to their phone by making swipes and taps, without the need to take the device out of the pocket.

The clothing firm and tech giant say will improve their safety, reports Android Authority - although one hand needs to be taken off the handlebars to ake the gestures.

The video above, released on Friday at the Google I/O 2016 developer conference, shows how the jacket works, as well as a cyclist using it.

A sensor on the jacket recognises taps and swipes made on the fabric, which has conductive threads that track the gestures, with the commands – such as ignoring a phone call or skipping to the next song – relayed to the phone via Bluetooth.

Set to undergo Beta testing later this year, the garment is expected to be on sale to the public from Spring 2017.