National Institute of Ecology Develops 'Reflective Display' Technology Using Bird Feathers

Utilized for Bird Collision Prevention

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] The National Institute of Ecology under the Ministry of Environment announced that it has recently developed a 'reflective display core technology' using natural light by mimicking the structural color of bird feathers and an 'optical element array' to prevent bird collisions, and has filed two related patents.

The structural color of bird feathers is a color that appears not due to pigments but by the reflection of light caused by the structure, which can be observed in peacocks, bluebirds, and others.

This patent application is the result achieved through joint research on mimicking the structural color of bird feathers conducted since 2018 by the National Institute of Ecology’s biomimicry research team and Professor Yeo Jong-seok’s team from the Department of Global Convergence Engineering at Yonsei University.

The reflective display core technology was developed based on the fact that the brilliant colors such as blue and green seen in some bird feathers are caused not by pigments but by special microstructures inside the feathers.

The research team first secured feathers from carcasses of 10 species of domestic birds, including bluebirds and thrushes, stored at wildlife rescue centers in various regions, to analyze the principle of structural color expression. Through this, the team revealed that the structural color of bird feathers appears due to selective reflection of light caused by the arrangement of beta-keratin and melanin nanoparticles, and succeeded in reproducing the structural color by fabricating optical elements mimicking this structure.

This method reproduces colors by reflecting natural light, unlike existing displays that use color filters or backlights, and the Ministry of Environment expects it to be utilized as a core technology for developing low-power, high-color-reproduction displays.

The optical element array for bird collision prevention was developed to prevent the phenomenon where about 8 million wild birds die each year by colliding with building glass and soundproof walls. When the surfaces of transparent structures such as windows or soundproof walls are fabricated with nano-structure arrays in specific forms such as linear or radial patterns, birds detect the light reflected from these nanostructures, recognize the structures, and avoid collisions based on this principle.

This technology allows birds to selectively detect light without obstructing human vision. Compared to existing collision prevention devices, it greatly enhances aesthetic functions and is expected to realize various optical properties through the fabrication of diverse nano-structure arrays.

Park Yong-mok, director of the National Institute of Ecology, said, "Eco-friendly technologies learned from nature, such as biomimicry research, have infinite practical value," and added, "We will continue to accelerate applied research related to ecology to lead the national green industry."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.