SunLike Lighting, with Proven Effective of Myopia Improvement, to Light Up a Major English-Speaking Kindergarten in Korea

ANSAN, South Korea--YBM Gaepo Appletree, an English-speaking kindergarten located in Gangnam, Seoul, known for the educational fervor of its residents, has selected natural SunLike lighting by Seoul Semiconductor (KOSDAQ:046890), a leading global optical semiconductor company.

Appletree is one of Korea’s top-level English-speaking kindergartens offering classes for a small number of selected students. It is well-known among discerning Korean parents for its strict standards for teachers and step-by-step curriculum. The kindergarten always makes sure to provide the best educational environment, and this time they have installed SunLike lighting, which reproduces natural sunlight, in the entire language academy in hopes of promoting a healthier eye development in children.

 “With increasing visual media, parents are getting more interested in the eye health of their children, and they are spending a lot of time and efforts on the protection of children’s eyesight,” Director Kim Eun-sook of YBM PINE Division said.“We are very pleased that, through the installation of Seoul Semiconductor’s SunLike lighting our children can study and also have a good time under the natural spectrum lighting.”

SunLike is based on an innovative lighting technology that re-creates natural light spectrum. Seoul Semiconductor has carried out numerous tests with Seoul National University, University of Basel, and Harvard University since 2017 to prove the connection between SunLike and health.

Myopia is a disease that usually occurs due to the increase in the axial length of eyeballs and leads to the blurred vision of distant objects. In July 2018, the company started a collaboration with the Singapore Eye Research Institute (SERI), a world-renowned ophthalmic research institute, to test the effect of SunLike on ocular emmetropization (i.e., the process controlling eye growth and the axial length of the eye to prevent myopia and maximize visual acuity) and myopia development. In early 2022, SERI published findings from an independently conducted research study supported by this collaboration to show that, compared to traditional fluorescent light, SunLike LEDs can promote emmetropization and accelerate recovery from myopia in a chicken experimental model.

The details of the study (Muralidharan et al. 2022) can be found in this link: https://doi.org/10.1167/iovs.63.2.16

Asst. Prof. Raymond Najjar whose team led the study at SERI commented “Even though our findings still need to be confirmed in a clinical trial, they support the notion that the spectral composition of indoor light could affect ocular growth and emmetropization, and open new research avenues for light-centered, passive myopia-control.”

A source at the company said, “During the growth period, children’s eyeballs are also growing. Thus, it is a significant period when either myopia can develop rapidly, or it can be prevented” and emphasized, “It is necessary to install natural spectrum lighting based on SunLike technology especially in educational institutions where children usually spend much time, such as nurseries, schools, and private academies. If, in the past, the key reason for selection of LED was energy efficiency, now you should also check if it is beneficial for eye health.”

To promote children’s eye health, Seoul Semiconductor is carrying out ‘Our Children’s Eye Health’ campaign with a partner company. To mark the installation of SunLike lighting at Appletree, it will sell limited amounts of Moongkle, a lamp for children’s bedroom, BY THE M lampstand, and Prism lampstand on SunLike’s social network channel at discount prices through September. For further information on SunLike, please visit Seoul Semiconductor’s webpage (http://www.seoulsemicon.com/en/technology/sunlike/casestudy/).

Contacts

Seoul Semiconductor Co., Ltd.

Jinseop Jung

Tel: +82-10-5472-8732

Email: jjs8732@seoulsemicon.com

[Photo] A classroom of Gaepo Appletree Academy where SunLike lighting is installed