Mélange Accessibility for All Magazine February 2024 | Page 56

Feature Stories

Enchroma unlocks a world of colour

Video

For most of us , experiencing the vibrant spectrum of colors is an integral part of our lives that we scarcely pause to contemplate . But what if the world appeared differently to you ? What if the colors you saw were muted , faded or even absent altogether ? For millions worldwide , this is their reality , but there is a solution . EnChroma , the company behind innovative glasses for color blindness , is changing the way millions of individuals perceive the world around them .
In 2010 , Dr . Don McPherson , the co-founder and inventor of the glasses was manufacturing eyewear for surgeons to protect their eyes from lasers in the operating room . Outside the operating room , some often wore them as sunglasses . Surprisingly , it was discovered that these glasses not only provided eye protection but also enhanced the vibrancy of colors . The pivotal moment occurred during an ultimate frisbee tournament in Santa Cruz , California , when a teammate borrowed Dr . McPherson ' s glasses and immediately exclaimed , " Dude , I can see the cones ." He went on to explain that he can see orange cones marking the boundaries of the field and that the grass is green .
Without the glasses , everything looked gray and yellowish to him and he was never able to tell the cones apart from the color of the field . This revelation led to the realization that these glasses could help color-blind individuals perceive colors more accurately . Extensive research , grants , clinical trials and experimentation followed , giving birth to EnChroma . Since then , the company has continuously improved its glasses ' formula , effectiveness , and affordability .
EnChroma ’ s solution to colour blindness “ EnChroma glasses specifically address red-green color
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