A company called Enchroma has developed a pair of sunglasses intended to help the color blind with these and other tasks. Before we dive into the technology involved, let’s clear something up. People who are color blind aren’t actually blind in any way, nor do they see the world in black and white. Color blindness is a deficiency in the way you see color, with red-green color deficiency being the most common form of color blindness.
The way Enchroma approached the problem is by applying a special optical coating to its lenses, which allows them to filter light reaching the eye. Traditional sunglasses reduce the transmission of light across the entire spectrum, whereas Enchroma’s eye gear selectively filters light in order to enhance the color effect. In this way, Enchroma considers them to be “smart sunglasses.”
There’s a lot of math and science involved in what Enchroma is doing. The company’s patent-pending coatings are designed using a proprietary computer-based optimization method derived from a mathematical model of the human visual system.
Retinal cones perceive color in light and transmit that data to the optic nerve. The most common type of color blindness is deuteranomaly, in which the green-sensitive cones (M-cones) have decreased sensitivity. Protanomaly is a more mild color vision defect that affects red retinal receptors (L-cones).
For individuals who have dueteranomaly, M-cone sensitivity is shifted towards longer wavelengths, whereas for individuals with protanomaly, the L-cone sensitivity shifts towards shorter wavelengths. Enchroma’s specially designed filters selectively blocks the wavelengths of light that wreak havoc on a person’s ability to see certain colors.
Enchroma’s first products will be standard Cx Series lenses, available with or without a prescription, which are intended to enhance color for individuals with normal color vision. Enchroma will also offer two other pairs – Cx-D for individuals with deuteranomaly and Cx-PT for those with protanomaly.
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