RFID Works for Big Brother

The tags transmit constantly to Wavetrend interrogators, which capture each tag's signal and send its unique ID number via an Ethernet connection to an Ethernet hub, then on to a server. Wavetrend's AssetTrace software collects and translates data, determining the tag's location within a meter, based on signal strength as measured by the reader. The AssetTrace system enables the show's producers to display a map of the house with a color-coded dot indicating each participant's location in real time, which they can view on their own monitors. In the future, this information could be made available online.

The software also allows producers to analyze location data, to determine such things as how long a particular participant spends in any one location—such as in bed, or in the garden—and when, as well as the length of time one participant spends with another.

Saleem Miyan

On the televised show, which airs daily, the producers disseminate the location data in a limited fashion. But on the Internet, Miyan says, the software could enable fans to view each participant's location in real time, though Celebrity Big Brother does not yet provide that service to its viewers.

"We're just getting through the teething process," Collett explains.

Collett says he expects the technology to add an additional level of detail that producers could not realistically provide to viewers solely by means of the house's 35 cameras. "In theory," he says, "we could get this information from the cameras if we sat there watching everything with a stop clock in hand. But with this system, that isn't necessary."

Thus far, Collett adds, producers have begun analyzing such data as how long specific participants spend in the smoking area or some other particular location. Such information, he notes, could be entertaining if, for instance, a celebrity claimed to be quitting smoking, while the data indicated that cast member had spent many hours in the smoking area.