Moscow, August 4, 1945 The European chapter of World War II had ended and the United States and the Soviet Union were considering their future relationship.
At the American Embassy, a group of young men from the Young Pioneer Organization of the Soviet Union presented a gift as a symbol of friendship between the two world powers. He presented a hand-made US seal to Averil Harriman, the then US ambassador to Russia. It was later referred to simply as ‘The Thing’.
Obviously, Harriman’s office would have searched this decorative piece of wood to see if there were any hidden devices installed in it, but no wires or batteries were found in it, so what harm could it do? So Harriman prominently displayed the device on the wall of his study room, where it continued to eavesdrop on his private conversations for the next seven years. One was made by Leon Thereman. He was best known for the revolutionary electric musical instrument named after him that could be played without touching it.
He lived in America with his wife Lavinia Williams, but then returned to the Soviet Union in 1938. His wife later revealed that Leon had been kidnapped, but in any case, he was immediately put to work in a prison camp where he was forced to design ‘The Thing’, along with other listening devices. done
After some time, American radio operators discovered that the American ambassador’s conversation was being broadcast over the airwaves, but these broadcasts were quite unpredictable. The secret device could not be found. The search for this secret was going to take some more time.
The listening device to the ambassador’s conversation was inside ‘The Thing’. And it was a very simple antenna with a silver membrane over it to make a mic, and hidden in a little box. It had no batteries or other power source because ‘The Thing’ didn’t need it.
The device would activate when Soviet scientists beamed radio waves toward the American embassy. It receives energy from the signals coming towards it and broadcasts the conversation back. This device would also be silenced when the Soviet signal was turned off.
Like the Theremin’s mysterious musical instrument, ‘The Thing’ may seem like a technological puzzle, but the concept of a device that is activated by radio signals sent back to it and sends back information is much broader than that. In the age of modern technology, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags are being used almost everywhere.
We also have a tag in our passports, and a similar tag in our credit cards that allows payments to be made by swiping at an RFID reader. Library books also often have tags, while airlines often use them to track passenger luggage and stores to protect against theft.
Some of them have a current source, but like the Theremin instrument, most of them are powered by a radio signal coming their way. This reduces their cost and the low cost is the reason for their popularity.
A form of RFID was used by Allied aircraft during World War II. When the radar beamed at an aircraft, a device called a transponder would send a signal back to the radar that said, ‘We’re your friends, don’t shoot us down.’ But as silicon-based circuits began to shrink in size, so did the idea of tags that you could put on anything less expensive than an airplane.
Like barcodes, RFID tags can be used to instantly identify an object. But unlike barcodes, they can be scanned automatically and don’t need to be aligned to a specific light. Some tags can be read from several feet away, some can be read with errors but in collections, and they can store more than just a barcode, which makes it difficult to read. Not only can an item be identified, but the tag can also store where and on what day this particular item was manufactured.
RFID tags were also used in the 1970s to track rail boxes and livestock, but by the early 2000s, Tesco, Wal-Mart and the US Department of Defense began requiring their suppliers to provide them. Tags must be affixed on the goods to be carried, so as a result, RFID tags started to be seen everywhere. Some enthusiastic people have even attached RFID tags to their bodies, with the help of which they can open doors for them or just use their hands. The signs made boarding the subway easier.
In 1999, Kevin Ashton, who worked at home appliance manufacturer Procter & Gamble, coined a new term for all the excitement surrounding RFID. He said that RFID will eventually lead us to the Internet of Things (IoT), a world in which everything will be connected to everything else.
But soon all the excitement about RFID turned to flashy products, including smartphones introduced in 2007, smart watches, smart thermostats, smart speakers and even smart cars. All these products are modern, have enormous computing power, but they are also expensive and require a lot of energy.
When we talk about the Internet of Things today, we don’t talk about RFID, but about these devices. It will be a world of such complex engineering that your toaster will be connected to your fridge without needing to, while remote controlled sex toys will also have information about your habits that we consider highly personal.
Perhaps we should not be surprised to live in an era of what sociologist Shoshana Zuboff calls surveillance capitalism, or ‘spy capitalism’. Monitoring people’s personal lives is a popular business model these days, but amid all the excitement and concern, RFID is quietly doing its thing and its heyday is still ahead.
Ashton’s view of the Internet of Things was simple: “If computers are to make sense of the real world, rather than just the electronic world, they will need data. Humans have better things to do with that data.” There are, so things will be created that will automatically feed this information to the computer, making the real world more understandable in the digital sense.
Many people have smartphones now, but things don’t. RFID can be a low-cost way to track these things. If most tags just said ‘I’m here!’ to a passing RFID reader, that would be enough for computers to learn about the real world.
Tags can open doors, track tools, equipment and even drugs, automate production, and expedite small payments. RFID may not have the power and flexibility of a smart watch or a self-driving car, but it is a low-cost and small technology, so low-cost and small enough that it can be used to tag hundreds of billions of objects. It won’t even need batteries. Anyone who thinks it doesn’t matter should re-read Leon Therriman.
#Tags #track #doors #appliances #medications #conversations
2024-09-15 06:15:54
How did “The Thing” revolutionize surveillance technology in its era?
Table of Contents
The Birth of Surveillance: The Story of “The Thing” and the Dawn of RFID Technology
As World War II came to an end in Europe on August 4, 1945, the United States and the Soviet Union were contemplating their future relationship. In the midst of this uncertainty, a group of young men from the Young Pioneer Organization of the Soviet Union presented a gift to Averill Harriman, the then US Ambassador to Russia, as a symbol of friendship between the two world powers. Unbeknownst to Harriman, this innocuous-looking gift, later referred to as “The Thing,” would become a pioneering example of surveillance technology, foreshadowing the dawn of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags and the Internet of Things (IoT).
The Mysterious gift: “The Thing”
The hand-made US seal, crafted by Leon Theremin, a renowned inventor of the electric musical instrument bearing his name, seemed harmless. However, Harriman’s office searched the decorative piece of wood for any hidden devices, finding none. With no wires or batteries in sight, they saw no harm in displaying it prominently in the ambassador’s study room. Little did they know, “The Thing” would eavesdrop on private conversations for the next seven years.
Leon Theremin: The Inventor and Prisoner
Leon Theremin, forced to design “The Thing” in a prison camp, was kidnapped from the United States and brought back to the Soviet Union in 1938. His wife, Lavinia Williams, later revealed the shocking truth about his abduction. Theremin’s fate was sealed, as he was compelled to work on espionage devices, including “The Thing.”
The Discovery of the Listening Device
After some time, American radio operators stumbled upon the broadcast of the American ambassador’s conversation over the airwaves, but these transmissions were unpredictable and intermittent. The search for the secret device continued. It wasn’t until later that they discovered the listening device hidden inside ”The Thing,” a simple antenna with a silver membrane over it, masquerading as a microphone. The device had no batteries or power source, as it didn’t need one.
The Power of Radio Waves
The device was activated when Soviet scientists beamed radio waves toward the American embassy, receiving energy from the signals and broadcasting the conversation back. This innovative technology would remain dormant when the Soviet signal was turned off. This concept, similar to Theremin
– What was the purpose of “The Thing” that spied on the US Ambassador?
The Mysterious “Thing” that Spied on the US Ambassador: A Glimpse into the World of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)
August 4, 1945, marked the end of World War II in Europe, and the United States and the Soviet Union were contemplating their future relationship. Amidst this backdrop, a group of young men from the Young Pioneer Organization of the Soviet Union visited the American Embassy, bearing a gift as a symbol of friendship between the two world powers. The gift, a hand-made US seal, was presented to Averil Harriman, the then US ambassador to Russia. Little did they know that this seemingly innocuous gesture would unveil a chilling tale of espionage, innovation, and technology.
The Birth of “The Thing”
The hand-made seal, later referred to as “The Thing,” was crafted by Leon Theremin, a renowned inventor best known for his revolutionary electric musical instrument that could be played without touching it. Theremin, who had lived in America with his wife Lavinia Williams, returned to the Soviet Union in 1938, only to be kidnapped and forced to design and manufacture clandestine listening devices, including “The Thing.”
The Secret Surveillance
The American Embassy’s searches for hidden devices in the seal yielded nothing, and it was proudly displayed on the wall of Harriman’s study room. Unbeknownst to the Americans, “The Thing” was secretly eavesdropping on his private conversations for the next seven years. The device was ingeniously designed to receive energy from radio signals beamed towards it, transmitting the conversations back to the Soviet Union.
The Unpredictable Broadcast
American radio operators eventually discovered that the ambassador’s conversations were being broadcast over the airwaves, but the broadcasts were sporadic and unpredictable. The search for the secret device continued, baffling the Americans. It wasn’t until much later that they discovered the truth about “The Thing.”
The Revolutionary Technology
“The Thing” was a precursor to modern Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology. The device’s ability to harness energy from radio signals and transmit information back to the Soviets was a pioneering concept that has evolved into the ubiquitous RFID tags we use today. RFID tags, like “The Thing,” can be powered by radio signals, reducing their cost and increasing their popularity.
From Spycraft to Modern-Day Applications
RFID technology has come a long way since “The Thing.” During World War II, Allied aircraft used a form of RFID called transponders to identify themselves to radar systems. Today, RFID tags are used in various aspects of our lives, including:
Supply Chain Management: Companies like Tesco, Wal-Mart, and the US Department of Defense require suppliers to affix RFID tags on goods to track their movement and inventory.
Payment Systems: Contactless payment systems, such as those in credit cards and passports, use RFID technology.
Library Management: Books are often tagged with RFID to facilitate automated checkout and inventory management.
Airlines: RFID tags are used to track passenger luggage and cargo.
* Retail Security: Stores use RFID tags to prevent theft and inventory shrinkage.
The Future of RFID
RFID technology has the potential to revolutionize the way we interact with objects and collect data. With the ability to store more information than traditional barcodes and be read from a distance, RFID tags are poised to transform industries and aspects of our daily lives. As Kevin Ashton, who coined the term “Internet of Things” (IoT), said, “In the future, we’ll be surrounded by intelligent, sensing devices that can tell us everything about the world around us.”
“The Thing” is more than just a fascinating tale of espionage and innovation; it marks the genesis of a technology that has transformed the way we live, work, and interact with the world around us.
