RFID Works For Big Brother

By Claire Swedberg, RFID Journal

When British reality TV program Celebrity Big Brother—which chronicles the activities of 11 celebrities living together in the same house—launched its new season this year, it took advantage of a new tool to mine data and entertain the public: radio frequency identification. With RFID technology, the show's creator, a company known as Endemol, can provide viewers with additional details regarding the celebrity participants, which include singer LaToya Jackson, rapper Coolio and British weather forecaster Ulrika Jonsson.

Each celebrity appearing on Celebrity Big Brother wears a battery-powered RFID tag. With reads captured from interrogators deployed throughout the Big Brother house, the show's producers can gather and analyze data regarding where, and with whom, participants spend their time, with graphs and diagrams supporting the results. "It adds a geeky fact file on things," says Gareth Collett, the series' executive producer. The system was provided by RFID technology supplier Wavetrend.

Used with permission from RFID Journal, Inc.