Actress Ku Hye-sun Unveils Patented Foldable Hair Roller Innovation
South Korean actress Ku Hye-sun is once again proving that there’s more to her than meets the eye. On May 19th, Ku revealed through her personal social media account that she had recently conducted an interview with the Korea Invention Promotion Association (KIPA) in honor of Invention Day.
In the post, she shared photos of herself posing at KIPA, along with images of the official patent certificate and a demonstration video of her newly invented beauty tool — a foldable hair roller. This innovative product can be flattened for easy portability and bent back into a roller shape for styling, effectively addressing the inconvenience of traditional cylindrical designs.
Ku Hye-sun collaborated with researchers from KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology), including distinguished professor Hae Hyeon, in the development of this portable hair accessory. She also mentioned that a potential collaboration involving Gravity Shampoo x KAIST x Ku Hye-sun, in her role as a graduate engineering student, is currently being explored.
She noted that the inspiration for the design came from observing students wearing common hair rollers. Questioning why the product hadn’t evolved, she set out to create a more efficient alternative and ultimately secured a patent for it, which also helped her fulfill graduation requirements at Sungkyunkwan University.
Ku recently appeared on the popular MBC show Radio Star, where she shared more about her journey from actress to inventor. Since her divorce from actor An Jae-hyun, she has been engaged in academic pursuits and tech-centered activities, reshaping her public image and setting an example of multifaceted reinvention.
