That cringe inducing sound of a bird hurling itself into your window may soon be a thing of the past, thanks to Ornilux Mikado, a glass created by German based manufacturer Glaswerke Arnold GmbH & Co.
Birds are often hurt or killed when they flying unwittingly into transparent or reflective surfaces. The bird safe glass was developed with a little help from the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, through their study of Orb-web spiders. Spiders protect their laboriously spun webs with a special UV-light reflecting silk that prevents birds flying into them. Ornithologists and engineers realized birds perceive the reflections of the UV light and recognize them as dangerous obstacles.
The result is an innovative coating which is applied to the glass. The highly effective coating is barely visible to humans and integrates seamlessly into architecture. I’m not the only won impressed with a design aimed at protecting our feathered friends. Last night Glaswerke Arnold was one of the Red Dot Design Award Recipients, for “Best of the Best” product design. Now they just need to design a special glass for human dorks.
Window with bird strike
