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Just like Google Wave and Buzz and Glasses before them, the internet search behemoth has unveiled some new technology that looks and sounds amazing on paper, but we still have no idea how it will be used. Project Jacquard uses conductive yarn to create fabric panels that can be used to interact with a device. To create the yarn, conductive metal alloys are braided together with fabric fibres to make a product that is also strong, but still feels like yarn.

Electronics are embedded into fabric in order for the fabric to work as an interface. Connectors and circuits are so small that it can be embedded to objects as small as jacket pockets. Which means you could change the TV channel without a remote control, by “swiping” your pants. The possibilities for the technology are endless, and yet a fabric that is highly conductive and requires a lot of pant-swiping to use might take some time to catch on with the wider public.