As the annual RFID Journal Live! event approaches, companies are eager to share the news that they have been nominated for one of the show’s awards. The award for the Most Innovative Use of RFID could go to WaveTrend Technologies, not for its solution for the aerospace, consumer goods, or pharmaceutical industry, but for its work with RFID in reality TV.

WaveTrend’s project focused on tracking the daily movements and habits of the contestants of the UK reality show Celebrity Big Brother 2009. The show’s producers asked WaveTrend to set up a network of active RFID readers in the house and issue each contestant a personnel tag that was worn at all times. The contestants’ movements were shown on a house floorplan via a studio display that indicated each housemate with a tracking beacon. With the data gained by tracking the contestants, the show’s viewers, producers, and psychologists, could see where and with whom each contestant spent his or her time.

“We’re proud to have provided our technology to enable active RFID to make its television debut,” said Saleem Miyan, CEO of Wavetrend, in a press release. “The recognition by the Awards Panel at RFID Journal is very exciting and a great validation of the successful use of active RFID in real-time tracking.”

As the winners of the RFID Journal Awards are announced at next week’s conference in Orlando, they are sure to reveal more innovations in RFID technology and its applications.