Most of the time, the fastest way to get anywhere in San Francisco is not Uber or Lyft or the ever-delayed Muni system, but on a bicycle. As long as you can handle the quad-busting hills and your reflexes are fast enough to dodge the occasional texting driver, there's no better way to traverse the city.

As GoBike cycle-sharing stands pop up all over the city, I've been riding more and more. I have this problem, though: I don't know how to get anywhere. All too often, I ride with one hand on the handlebars and the other digging into my pocket, or holding my phone, as I try to figure out my next turn.

And so when I tried on Google's new connected jacket, I instantly understood the appeal. The jacket—technically Levi's Commuter Trucker Jacket with Jacquard by Google—is the result of a years-long partnership between Levi's and Google to integrate a conductive, connected yarn into a garment. It's still early days, but the jacket offers a glimpse into what might happen when we start connecting our clothes to the internet.

The jacket looks like most jean jackets, except for a small device on the left cuff. It's intended to look like a strap, but it's more reminiscent of a security tag someone forgot to remove. The black tag contains a wireless radio, a battery, and a processor, but the most important tech in the Jacquard Jacket remains invisible. A section of the left cuff is woven with the special yarn, created by Ivan Poupyrev and a team of Google scientists, that turns the bottom of your arm into a touchscreen.

When I first put on the jacket and snapped the detachable tag into place, it quickly paired to my iPhone through a dedicated Jacquard app. After a few seconds of setup, the app asked me to define a few gestures: What happens when you tap twice on the conductive yarn? What if you brush away from yourself, or toward yourself? What should it mean when the light on the tag illuminates?

Google

I set mine to get me home. A double-tap on my left arm now sends a ping to Google Maps and delivers the next turn on my navigation, either through the speaker on my phone or whatever headphones I'm wearing. (All the Jacquard Jacket's connectivity comes through your phone.) If I swipe away, it reads out my ETA. The small motor in my jacket sleeve buzzes and the light comes on when I get a text or phone call.