EnChroma
ManufacturerEnChroma
Websitehttps://enchroma.com/ Edit this on Wikidata

EnChroma lenses are specialized glasses designed to address symptoms of red-green color blindness. Studies have shown that these lenses can alter the perception of colors that were already perceived, but they do not fully restore normal color vision. Some initial claims made by the manufacturer have been subject to criticism and described as marketing hype, while research suggests that the lenses may have a limited positive impact on individuals with red-green color blindness. A peer-review study concluded that the glasses "do not confer any improvement in the ... color blindness tests. Therefore, the glasses cannot improve scores in professional screening tests, contrary to what the company claims on its website."[1][2][3][4][5][6]

Development and manufacturer claims

Donald McPherson invented EnChroma glasses by accident while trying to develop lenses to protect and aid surgeons during laser operations.[7] The lenses focus on the most common color vision deficiency which is caused by the red and green retinal cone cells that, when responding to light, coincide. To eliminate the overlapping of the wavelengths of light, there is an optical material called a notch filter, which is capable of removing the exact wavelengths of light in the location where it overlaps, getting a simplified differentiation of colors. The manufacturer claims that the glasses block specific wavelengths to create a clearer separation of different color signals so that they can be better calculated by the brain, and that the separation of signals allows most people with color blindness to distinguish colors, but admits that the glasses will have little to no effect on the 20% of color blind people who have severe color impairment.[8][9] A number of patents have been awarded based on the technology.[10][11][12]

Scientific analysis

A study in 2017 involving 23 males aged from 20 to 25 years with normal trichromatic color vision showed that EnChroma Cx-14 lens notches the blue and violet region of the visible spectrum. This induced participants with normal color vision to experience tritan defect when wearing the lens.[13] In a subsequent study involving ten individuals with hereditary deficiencies (nine males and one female from age 19 to 52), the EnChroma Cx-14 filters did not significantly influence the vision of color blind subjects and "improved the error score in only two subjects".[13]

A 2018 article published by Phys.org, "Scientists debunk the effectiveness of EnChroma glasses for colorblind people", reported on a study of EnChroma lenses by a peer-reviewed scientific journal Optics Express. The study "debunked the effectiveness of these glasses for color vision deficiency (CVD), proving that the EnChroma glasses don't make color blind people's vision comparable to that of people without color blindness." It went on to report that "a color-blind person using the EnChroma glasses will not perceive new colors, but rather sees the same colors in a different way. This makes it possible for some individuals using these glasses to distinguish some colors, but to the detriment of others, which will be now confused. Even though a color filter such as that used by the EnChroma glasses may change the appearance of colors, it will never make color vision more similar to a normal observer's vision."[5] The researchers found the effect of using EnChroma glasses is similar to glasses where the use of color filters changes the user's perception and increases the contrast among the colors, such as those used for shooting or hunting, but determined that EnChroma glasses did not reveal any improvement in the Ishihara test and Farnsworth–Munsell 100 hue test.[2] The report concluded that "the glasses specifically used in this study do not confer any improvement in the recognition or arrangement color blindness tests. Therefore, the glasses cannot improve scores in professional screening tests, contrary to what the company claims on its website.[5]

References

  1. ↑ "How EnChroma Glasses Work". EnChroma. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
  2. 1 2 Gómez-Robledo, L; Valero, EM; Huertas, R; Martínez-Domingo, MA; Hernández-Andrés, J (October 29, 2018). "Do EnChroma glasses improve color vision for colorblind subjects?". Optics Express. 26 (22): 28693–28703. Bibcode:2018OExpr..2628693G. doi:10.1364/OE.26.028693. hdl:10481/57698. PMID 30470042. S2CID 53721875.
  3. ↑ Martínez-Domingo, MA; Gómez-Robledo, L; Valero, EM; Huertas, R; Hernández-Andrés, J; Ezpeleta, S; Hita, E (June 24, 2019). "Assessment of VINO filters for correcting red-green Color Vision Deficiency". Optics Express. 27 (13): 17954–17967. Bibcode:2019OExpr..2717954M. doi:10.1364/OE.27.017954. hdl:10481/57382. PMID 31252746. S2CID 195758269.
  4. ↑ NLN, Dave (November 14, 2018). "Do EnChroma glasses for colour blind people work?". Skeptical-science.com. Skeptical Science. Archived from the original on November 14, 2018. Retrieved September 14, 2020.
  5. 1 2 3 University of Granada (October 29, 2018). "Scientists debunk the effectiveness of EnChroma glasses for colorblind people". Phys.org. Retrieved November 23, 2018.
  6. ↑ Werner, John S.; Marsh-Armstrong, Brennan; Knoblauch, Kenneth (August 2020). "Adaptive Changes in Color Vision from Long-Term Filter Usage in Anomalous but Not Normal Trichromacy". Current Biology. 30 (15): 3011–3015.e4. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2020.05.054. ISSN 0960-9822. PMID 32589909.
  7. ↑ Martin, Claire (August 15, 2015). "EnChroma's accidental spectacles find niche among the colorblind". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 10, 2021. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
  8. ↑ Diane, Kelly; Maddie, Stone (July 11, 2015). "Can These Glasses Help the Colorblind? We Put EnChroma to the Test". Gizmodo. Archived from the original on April 11, 2021. Retrieved November 29, 2018.
  9. ↑ Bettenhausen, Craig (February 6, 2017). "Experimenting with EnChroma's color-blind assistance glasses". Chemical & Engineering News. 95 (6): 80. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
  10. ↑ US 10338286, Schmeder, Andrew W. & McPherson, Donald M., "Multi-band color vision filters and method by LP-optimization", published 2019-07-02, assigned to Enchroma Inc.
  11. ↑ US 10534117, McPherson, Donald M., "Optical filters and methods for making the same", published 2020-01-14, assigned to Enchroma Inc.
  12. ↑ US 10606100, Schmeder, Andrew W. & McPherson, Donald M., "Optical filters affecting color vision in a desired manner and design method thereof by non-linear optimization", published 2020-03-31, assigned to Enchroma Inc.
  13. 1 2 Almutairi, Nawaf; Kundart, James; Muthuramalingam, Naganathan; Hayes, John; Citek, Karl; Aljohani, Saad (2017). "Assessment of EnChroma Filter for Correcting Color Vision Deficiency". Pacific University. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
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