Colour blindness is a condition where people have difficulty distinguishing between two or more colours.
Colour blindness affects approximately 8% of men and 0.5% of women, according to the National Eye Institute (NEI).
Although it's most common in men, colour blindness can also affect children and adults of both genders.
In a YouTube video posted Tuesday, a man sees purple for the first time.
You can see the video below. In it, a man sees purple for the first time. "I always knew that I could never see red or green," he says, "but I didn't know that I couldn't see purple."
He has had a condition known as color blindness since birth and was unaware that there was another hue in existence.
According to NPR, his doctor told him about a new technology called EnChroma glasses which help people with certain types of vision impairment see shades of color correctly for the first time.
In order to see the color purple, he had to wear special glasses that correct the way his brain perceives colour.
In order to see the color purple, he had to wear special glasses that correct the way his brain perceives colour. These are called EnChroma glasses and instead of filtering out light like regular sunglasses, they filter out certain wavelengths of light so that the person wearing them can see colours properly.
The perception of colour comes down to three types of cones in your eyes one each for blue, red and green. The EnChroma glasses filter out some wavelengths at either end of the spectrum so that people who were previously unable to detect them can suddenly see those colours clearly for the first time in their lives.
The man has red-green colour blindness, which is the most common type of colour vision deficiency.
This man has red-green colour blindness, which is the most common type of colour vision deficiency. It’s caused by a genetic mutation that affects the genes that encode for the red and green cones in your eyes.
The mutation occurs on chromosome 7 and affects about 8% of men and 0.5% of women. This particular form of colour blindness results in seeing blue, yellow and orange as less intense than they are normally perceived by someone with normal colour vision; therefore, it can make certain colours appear duller or washed out to those affected by it.
Another form of red-green color blindness affects all three types of cones at once: it causes difficulty distinguishing between reds from greens as well as oranges from yellows this form is more rare but still common enough that there are tests available for detecting its presence through special eye charts (though this does not guarantee a correct diagnosis).
The fact that this man was able to see purple for the first time was incredibly exciting for him because it showed him just how much more he could experience visually!
People with red-green colour blindness can't seem to find subtle differences in shades of red and green.
Red-green colour blindness is the most common type of colour deficiency, and it occurs when the cones in the retina that respond to red light don't function properly. People with red-green color blindness can't seem to find subtle differences in shades of red and green.
While some people have trouble telling the difference between red and white, or yellow and black, others struggle with other shades as well.
Some might not be able to tell the difference between green and blue—and those who suffer from this particular form of color deficiency might also be unable to distinguish between browns (including dark browns like brown leather) or oranges (the hue we associate with tangerines).
The EnChroma glasses filter out certain wavelengths of light so that the person wearing them can see colours properly.
When you look at the world through a pair of EnChroma glasses, you'll be able to see colours properly.
The glasses work by filtering out certain wavelengths of light, allowing the wearer to see colours properly.
The perception of colour comes down to three types of cones in your eyes -- one each for blue, red and green.
Cone cells are a type of photoreceptor in the retina that respond to different wavelengths of light. The human eye contains three types of cones: one for perceiving blue, one for perceiving red and another for perceiving green.
Cone cells have pigments that absorb photons from their respective wavelength and convert that energy into an electrical signal.
When these signals reach the brain, it interprets them as colour. For example, when red light enters your eye, your red cone cells react by transmitting a signal to your brain; this means you see red when looking at something coloured with that wavelength.
When yellow light enters your eye, both green and blue cones react; this creates the sensation of yellow (a mixture of both green and blue) in your brain.[1]
The EnChroma lenses help separate the cones, allowing people with colour blindness see all the colours they should be able to.
What are the EnChroma lenses?
The lenses, called EnChroma, separate the cones and filters out different wavelengths of light to allow people with colour blindness see all the colours they should be able to. EnChroma is available in prescription or non-prescription options, but it can be quite pricey.
The company estimates that it will cost between $250 and $750 per lens and recommends professional installation for use with glasses or contact lenses. As a result, not everyone who wears them will experience colour vision correction in their lives - but for those who do, it has been life changing.
The EnChroma glasses are pricey and don't work for everyone who has colour blindness.
EnChroma glasses are expensive. The pair I got cost $$, but they’re available for $199 on Amazon Prime if you have a Prime membership.
They won’t work for everyone who has colour blindness, though. If you have blue-yellow color blindness or some other type of color vision deficiency, these glasses won’t do anything for you.
The EnChroma glasses don't miraculously give people with red-green colour blindness the ability to see all the colors in the rainbow they just help them differentiate between red and green (which is still pretty cool).
So if they don't work at all and they're so expensive, why bother?
In some cases, colour blindness is caused by eye damage or certain diseases like Parkinson's disease or Alzheimer's disease.
In some cases, colour blindness is caused by eye damage or certain diseases like Parkinson's disease or Alzheimer's disease.
The retina is located at the back of your eye and it helps you see in both bright light and low light. If you have retinitis pigmentosa (RP), your retinas can be damaged from the light that comes in through your pupils.
This makes it hard to see colours clearly, which causes a type of colour blindness called "red-green dichromacy."
Alzheimer patients often complain about loss of memory and difficulty recognizing faces while other people around them don't notice anything wrong with their behavior during conversations because they are not aware enough yet themselves!
There are still a lot of things we don't understand about how our brains perceive color!
Colour blindness is a very common condition, affecting about 8% of men and 0.4% of women. It’s also known as color vision deficiency (CVD) or colour vision impairment (CVI).
The most common type of CVD is red-green colour blindness, which causes problems with distinguishing shades between reds and greens.
There are many possible causes for this kind of CVD: genetics, eye damage from diabetes or glaucoma, trauma to the eye or head injury during childhood can all be factors that contribute to developing colour blindness later in life.
Conclusion
We hope you found this article interesting! It's always fun to learn about our brains' ability to perceive colour and how technology can help us see things better.
