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.
