Londoners’ most intimate habits, including visits to the lavatory and showering, will be investigated in a Truman Show-style experiment.
Volunteers must agree to tiny electronic bugs being placed in their homes on items such as toothpaste, soaps, taps and flushes to record their every movement.
Location sensors will also be set up near the basin and lavatory and each volunteer will wear a waterproof sensor on their wrist.
The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine wants to test whether remote monitoring devices could help to ensure that people, especially the elderly, are looking after themselves at home.
Gaby Judah, who is leading the study, said it could also help improve hygiene habits. Privacy is protected as there will be no camera, microphone or GPS in any of the sensors.
Participants in the four-month project must be over 18 and live in households of two or more adults.
The real-time location system is already used to track staff and equipment in NHS hospitals.