GE Makes OLED Christmas Tree, Automates Scary 3D Surveillance Cameras

GE Makes OLED Christmas Tree, Automates Scary 3D Surveillance Cameras

GE Makes OLED Christmas Tree, Automates Scary 3D Surveillance Cameras


The research team at General Electric wanted to show off their OLED advancements for the year, so they rolled up the flexible displays to make a Christmas tree.

Sadly, due to the soul-crushing pressure known as political correctness in the 21st century, they dully named it 'The Holiday Tree.' There's no mention of it in their blog, but the rumor is that a fat man with a white beard and a red jumpsuit made out of OLEDs also stopped by and people kept calling him Jolly Sparkly Man.

The GE OLED tree is essentially a 6-inch-by-15-ft. OLED roll-out screen around a base, and it currently doesn’t play any images. Earlier this year, GE Research was among the first groups to design successful 'equipment modules' to mass-manufacture large, flexible OLED screens.

According to a team leader, they've also managed to improve upon the efficiency and longevity of the diodes, an important step in their goal to reproduce the tech into large public areas, like lamps and walls.

I'm a sucker for OLEDs, but a recent development in their security division managed to steal their thunder for a beat. Not surprising since it deals with surveillance and the prevention of nuclear proliferation.

In seeking to improve webcam monitoring, GE researchers built an automated algorithm that tracks a person in 3D. It determines speed and direction with precision without forcing webcam operators to zoom in on jittery video, like they do now.Check out the video of the test right here.

The algorithm controls a network of cameras and determines the best position for capturing. The angle of the face and the distance of the subject from the camera are some of the measurable data points.

But according to GE, the team is also using this algorithm for a far more serious application. Cameras are expected to be used soon with a Compton imager to detect radiation from a distance. The project's name is called Target Linked Radiation Imager (TLRI) and is expected to be used by Homeland Security to find 'location of targets of interest,' or rather, dangerous radioactive material.

There aren't too many details about this project, with reason, but it's scary to know a simple cam that might simply show a kid skipping down the street might one day soon be powerful enough to see through shielded uranium.

Photos: GE Global Research