Latest News
11 firms to enter Enterprise Ireland SuperValu Supplier Development Programme
New division to drive enhanced enterprise support model to small businesses in 2013
Research & Innovation
€5m government-funded Cloud Computing Technology Centre to turn good ideas into good jobs
19 'Big Ideas' unveiled at the Enterprise Ireland Big Ideas Technology Showcase
Start-ups & Deals
Equinome open Australian office to expand sales in the Asia-Pacific region
Irish company develops sensor solution used on Discovery series
Irish animation company wins BAFTA for children’s shows
Other client success stories
International Activities
50 Years of Export Success to Germany
€8m in deals announced during Canada trade mission
Irish companies secure over €6 million in new export sales in South Africa
Events
Showcase 2013
EnterpriseSTART Programme 2013
Global Technology Leaders Summit
Twitter Feed
Contact Us  Follow Us
Latest News

Irish company develops sensor solution used on Discovery series
'Uncrushable Man' Eduardo Lasaga being tested in the Lab

Technology developed by Enterprise Ireland client company Shimmer Research is being used in a TV series called ‘The Superhuman Showdown’ on the Discovery Channel. The TV series  tracks down and investigates incredible people with abilities that extend far beyond that of ordinary humans.

Established in 2008, Shimmer Research developed a bespoke analytics solution for the show to analyse data tracked from these superhumans.  It’s a small wireless sensor worn on the body of each superhuman to record and transmit physiological and kinematic data in real-time to the bespoke analytics software application. This enabled a panel of experts on the show to scientifically examine the physical and mental makeup of each character and to evaluate the source of their superhuman skills.

Shimmer provided technology expert Dr. Karol O’Donovan to support the production of the show, and with his team they developed the analytics software that would be used to collect and analyse the scientific data resulting from each investigation. 

Among the measurements taken using the Shimmer sensor system are angular curvature of the spine; heart rate and GSR (Galvanic Skin Response) to measure emotional state; g-Force; core and jaw muscles; gag reflex (EMG); angular velocity or revolutions per minute. 
The production team from Maverick TV, assembled remarkable individuals from all over the globe at a cutting edge laboratory in London, with internationally acclaimed scientists Dr Heather Berlin, Dr Rahul Jandial and Professor Greg Whyte.  They categorised the superhuman feats based on unifying traits such as speed, strength, endurance, brain power, and skill and they included a Contortionist, Freediver, high G-Force tolerant pilot, Ice-cold Endurance, Uncrushable with high torso strength, head spinner, speed eater, and sword swallower. 

Dr. Karol O'Donovan comments: "Involvement in a television production was a totally new environment for our engineers and presented them with challenges that we hadn't previously encountered or foreseen. This work required us to develop highly adaptable solutions which could meet the fast changing demands of TV production. While the nature of the challenge, monitoring the performance of humans, is an area we specialise in, the obscure nature of the Superhumans performances had the benefit of stimulating novel concepts in terms of solutions we can now pass onto our customers."

The Shimmer sensor worn by the superhumans in the show incorporates wireless Heart Rate, EMG, GSR, Accelerometer, Gyro, Mag , Tilt and Vibration sensors. It is an extremely extensible platform that enables researchers and industry to be at the leading edge of sensing technology.

For further information on the ‘Superhuman Showdown’ TV programme visit:
http://www.questtv.co.uk/superhuman-showdown/

For further information on Shimmer visit: http://www.shimmer-research.com/

The Diving Response Explained - Stig Severinsen on Superhuman Showdown

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Del.icio.us Digg Yammer
Newsletter Marketing Powered by Newsweaver