Can artificial sunshine deactivate coronavirus? Dutch artist Daan Roosegaarde thinks so

Each sunrise is a tiny miracle, but Daan Roosegaarde hopes one particular dawn could dispel the darkness of our Covid-dimmed lives. Growing for the first time this week is normally Urban Sunlight, an installation that harnesses far-ultraviolet light to inactivate airborne coronaviruses in open-air spaces.

The project debuted in a public square alongside the Erasmus Bridge in Rotterdam on Tuesday, March 2, and may potentially be observed at Expo 2020 Dubai.

Urban Sunshine builds on studies proving that the mild wavelength of 222 nanometres (nm) can remove up to 99.9 % of the coronavirus.

“It started with the realisation that something physically so small while the virus is having such an enormous effect on our lives," the Dutch creator and modern artist, 41, tells The National via training video conference from his business office in the Netherlands.

"Suddenly the world is filled with plastic material barriers and distance stickers. We're afraid to shake each other's hands and spouse and children is lowered to pixels on a computer screen.

“Let’s end up being the architects of our fresh normal and create better places to meet up and interact.”

When Roosegaarde, who been trained in art and architecture, read of specific UV light frequencies that inactivate airborne viral transmissions (without health risks to humans), he teamed up with a group of scientists and designers to see if they may help control the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19.

“That is public knowledge that has been available for years. Why aren’t we investing in the research, in the possibilities of how light might help us?”

Indeed, dating back to 2004, researchers from the US confirmed how UVC (C-type ultraviolet light) radiation at frequencies of 254nm could inactivate the original SARS-CoV virus. On the other hand, UVC light at this frequency can bring about skin cancer and cataracts, which is why its work with in battling the coronavirus - including within the UAE - possesses been restricted to disinfection robots and lights that can only be utilized when no people can be found.

But, as the this past year offers accelerated our uptake of technology, it took a pandemic for scientists to demonstrate, in separate studies found in Japan and the US, that UVC light in lower frequencies may also are a steriliser even though remaining safe and sound for humans.

A June paper published in Mother nature magazine studies: “The sensitivity of the coronaviruses to far-UVC light, as well as comprehensive safety data … suggests that it can be feasible to really have the lights providing continuous low-dose far-UVC publicity in public areas - potentially reducing the likelihood of person-to-person transmission of coronavirus along with other seasonal viruses such as for example influenza.”

These findings form the foundation of Urban Sun, which Roosegaarde designed using technology from the Italian photobiology company MEG.

Using Urban Sunshine to create public spaces virus-free

The project streams concentrated 222nm UVC light from an aerostat, a kind of stationary light aircraft. Virtual simulations have got shown how the installation can cleanse a location ranging from 95 square metres within minutes, which is well suited for small exhibitions, Roosegaarde says.

If we can’t imagine a much better future, we won’t manage to create it

“At the same time, we have suitable for a larger unit of about 3,500 square metres, which could be applied in Expo 2020 Dubai, for instance,” he says.

The far-UVC source of light found in the Urban Sunshine protype is measured and calibrated by the Dutch National Metrology Institute, and the project meets the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection safety standards, Studio Roosegaarde said in a statement.

Urban Sun is one of eight “dreamscapes” that Roosegarde will present through to 2022. “A dreamscape is definitely a dream that we move into reality to improve existence,” he says. “All eight try to address the way we live right now.”

That philosophy is noticeable in an award-winning human body of job that tackles urgent, sensible issues affecting just how we live - from climate and energy to clearing up space junk.

Many of the artist’s jobs reveal a fascination with light. His Smog-Free Job attacked polluting of the environment with a seven-metre-tall vacuum using confident ionisation technology. Companion designs included air-cleaning bicycles and billboards, and a smog-no cost engagement or wedding band manufactured from compressed air particles.

The solar-powered fluorescent Van Gogh Bicycle Path, created from thousands of twinkling stones, was part of a programme to build interactive, sustainable roads that respond to live traffic situations.

In January, Roosegaarde debuted Grow, which showed the way the sorts of lighting more commonly associated with nightclubs can make agriculture more sustainable while reaffirming the value of farmers. Building on studies completed at the University of Wageningen University and Analysis, Roosegaarde turned a 20,000-square-metre leek field right into a living social artwork, through the use of what he called “mild recipes” - combinations of solar-powered crimson, blue and ultraviolet lights to enhance plant expansion and resilience, and halve pesticide work with.

LED lights have been replicating the sun’s actions in indoor vertical farms and greenhouses for years now - including in the UAE - but Grow shows just how large-level outdoor farms could improve crop yields while reducing their environmental impact.

“Grow is an artwork, but it’s also a system to increase the [program of] light research because now people know about it and want to buy. We designed this demand that had not been really there before - I mean, I possess 220 emails of farmers in Peru,” Roosegaarde says with fun.

As a metropolis boy, the artist confesses that Grow gave him new appreciation of what it takes to grow his food. That message has already reached some 665 million persons through a film on his web page, but will go even more when the exhibition travels to 40 countries over the next couple of months, highlighting the native crops in each nation.