Smart Jacket
A jacket showing you the way
A connected cycling jacket that receives navigation data and signals upcoming turns to both the rider and surrounding traffic.
Research data showed that in the Netherlands almost one in five accidents involving cyclists aged 12–35 included the use of a smartphone in traffic. Vodafone believes that mobile technology can be a powerful force for good.
The insight was that mobile technology should improve road safety instead of threatening it: discourage phone use while cycling, make the cyclist visible, and signal to other road users where they are going. This thinking became the Smart Jacket—a jacket that uses smartphone navigation data to guide cyclists safely and signals upcoming turns to both the rider and surrounding traffic.
Partnering with the Dutch Cyclists Association made the project even more credible. The story reached more than 90 million media impressions, appeared across major Dutch media and international publications, and reached roughly 40% of the Dutch population through PR and social.
The campaign started a national conversation about smartphones in traffic. The Smart Jacket was endorsed and promoted by the Dutch Cyclists Association, and Vodafone presented it at TEDx Delft 2016 before leading a brainstorm on technology and safer traffic.
The jacket is now being developed further by Delft University of Technology, while global fashion brands have expressed interest in turning the idea into a consumer product line.