RFID — seemingly quiet for a little while — is gathering new momentum in retail. Could the manufactured mayhem and fabricated fears be in the rear view mirror for good, with new progress ahead?

Every emerging technology endures cycles of ups and downs. It’s the darling. It’s the dragon. It’s the darling again. ABI Research projects that the RFID market will exceed $6 billion this year. Scan the exhibitor list at the National Retail Federation’s BIG Show and you’ll find several companies showcasing new applications in radio frequency identification for retail.

And retail executives whose appetite for RFID is stoked at NRF can continue the dialogue next month, when Dan Smith, CIO at Hudson’s Bay Company, leads a workshop discussion on RFID at RetailConnections Business Executive Summit in Miami.

Here’s two intriguing companies not to be overlooked at NRF in New York next week:

• Truecount: Zander Livingston, who led item-level RFID initiatives at American Apparel before founding his own company, has created an “out of the box” RFID kit specifically for retailers. Last time he and I connected, Zander told me he was on the verge of leaving American Apparel, at which point I went, “awwww” — until he told me about launching Truecount and his contagious enthusiasm made me go, “ohhh…boy!” It’s so great to see a dream pursued.

“With RFID in place, managers are more confident on the inventory,” he told Stores magazine’s Susan Reda. At American Apparel, “we witnessed a positive transition in the mood of store associates and noteworthy improvements in customer service.” You can catch Zander at booth #1319.

• Omnitrol Networks just announced today a new partnership with BT (British Telecom) for global deployment of RFID-based retail inventory solutions. “Retailers can now dramatically simplify many manually intensive processes such as receiving, stocking and inventory counting,” said Keith Sherry, general manager. supply chain solutions, BT Global Services. “Our predictive analytics with highly accurate stock-taking allow stores to proactively replenish the sales floor virtually eliminating out-of-stocks.”

Among the other NRF exhibitors well-equipped to discuss RFID in retail are GS1 US, Invengo Technology, HP, Wipro, Zebra Technologies and VICS. And there’s more, if you keep your eyes open on the show floor.

Exciting developments are ahead for RFID and retail and if you think so, too, let’s hear your thoughts. If you are at NRF next week, look for me. I’ll have my RFID scanner and will demo how it reads the chip that’s been embedded in my arm since 2003. I volunteered to be among the first to accept a subdermal chip as part of my research into privacy “Big Brother” issues that were so amped up at that time. Thankfully, it seems that hysteria has faded, clearing the path to new possibilities for RFID in retail.

A big syringe was used to embed my chip.

Closeup of the chip