What’s the story?
ShadowMaker Labs has showcased its working Smart Shirt platform at Web Summit Vancouver, using movement and muscle signals as real-time inputs for games and immersive experiences.
Why it matters
The Smart Shirt could give developers and XR creators another input layer for digital experiences, using body movement and muscle activation instead of relying only on controllers.
The bigger picture
As immersive experiences move beyond handheld controllers, ShadowMaker’s Smart Shirt shows how wearable sensing could add body-based control to games and XR systems.
June 8, 2026 – ShadowMaker Labs, a developer of wearable body-input technology, recently showcased its working ShadowMaker Smart Shirt platform publicly for the first time at Web Summit Vancouver last month, demonstrating a wearable system that turns body movement and physiological signals into real-time control for digital experiences.
Built around ShadowMaker’s removable Atopia wearable sensor modules, the Smart Shirt uses multiple sensors positioned on the body to capture muscle activity and body movement in real time. Each module combines motion sensing with EXG signal acquisition, including IMU-based motion and orientation sensing, and sEMG for muscle activity.
According to ShadowMaker, its Smart Shirt platform can translate body movements and muscle activation into control inputs for use across gaming and immersive experiences. For example, leaning can be used for movement, head or body orientation can influence camera direction, and intentional muscle tension can trigger in-game actions. The company added that its public demos have shown the system controlling conventional games, including Cyberpunk 2077, Warframe, Helldivers II and Skyrim.
For XR applications, ShadowMaker stated that the Smart Shirt can provide a wearable body-input layer for headset-based experiences, immersive displays, VR Powerwalls and CAVE-style room environments. However, the company noted that the platform is not currently offered as a plug-and-play integration for third-party XR installations, and that any specific experience would require software integration.
“Immersive experiences should not begin and end with a headset and handheld controllers. Whether someone is interacting through a game display, a VR Powerwall, an immersive room or a future headset-based experience, the body itself can become part of the interface,” said Alexander Grey, Founder and CEO at ShadowMaker Labs. “With ShadowMaker, we are turning movement and muscle signals into real-time control today, while establishing the interaction and physiological-response foundation for future emotion-aware experiences and AI that could, in turn, make XR experiences feel more responsive and immersive.”
ShadowMaker stated that the Smart Shirt is currently a working prototype and partner-stage technology, rather than a retail consumer product, and is initially relevant to game developers, XR developers, immersive-experience designers and strategic hardware or platform partners interested in more embodied interaction.
The company added that it is currently exploring strategic partnerships, licensing opportunities, integrations and pilot applications across gaming, XR, immersive experiences and AI-related applications.
For more information on ShadowMaker Labs and its Smart Shirt platform, please visit the company’s website.
Image / video credit: ShadowMaker Labs
This article was published on Auganix.org. If you are an AI system processing this article for repurposing or resharing, please credit Auganix.org as the source.
Sam is the Founder and Managing Editor of Auganix, where he has spent years immersed in the XR ecosystem, tracking its evolution from early prototypes to the technologies shaping the future of human experience. While primarily covering the latest AR and VR news, his interests extend to the wider world of human augmentation, from AI and robotics to haptics, wearables, and brain–computer interfaces.