My friend’s father is color blind. They got him glasses to allow him to see color for his birthday as a surprise

My friend’s father is color blind. They got him glasses to allow him to see color for his birthday as a surprise

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  1. How much of a difference is it though? They aren’t going from grayscale to full color, right? I’m assuming they just see in muted colors, and the glasses help enhance or brighten the saturation?

  2. I am colorblind and have a few different pairs of these glasses for indoor / outdoor use.

    While they do have a great effect for some people (myself included), they do not “let you see color”. Color blind people already see color, with one exception, people with monochromatic (grey scale) vision, which is extremely rare. No glasses will help someone who is monochromatic see color. Also, glasses will not help people who are completely red/green colorblind (i.e. are missing one set of cones, or two types of cones both overlap 100% on wavelengths).

    Instead, most color blind people are unable to distinguish between some colors. Usually red and green, though some people have an issue with blue instead. This is usually due to their cones overlapping more than they should. For example, their red or green cones could be shifted toward the other, so they both receive a lot of the same wavelengths of light, confusing the brain. This results in most red and green things being difficult to distinguish between.

    What these glasses do is create a separation between the green and red wavelengths, which allows you to better perceive the difference between the two more easily. As I mentioned before, it can have a profound effect for the right people.

  3. My friend is colorblind. He married an artist and illustrator. At their wedding, before the ceremony, she handed me a pair of glasses, and told me to give them to her during her vows. During her vows, she gave them to him.

    I know there had been like potential surgeries or treatments or whatever to potentially cure colorblindness, and he had never really cared that much. He didn’t think it was a big deal.

    I remember telling him once. “Listen, do me a favor. If you get a chance to at least see what it’s like to not be colorblind, look at a picture of a flower garden or a rainforest, because I’m telling you it’s worth it. Whatever you have to do, it’s worth it.

    Anyway, the point is he had no concept of what he was missing, and he didn’t think he was missing that much.

    He put them on, and he just stood there, looking at the ground, the sky, the horizon. Everything, for a good minute.

    It’s probably one of my favorite memories.

    The next few days, they posted videos of him out and about, looking at candy bags, etc, and I remember him remarking, simply, that orange was “Hilarious”. He couldn’t explain it any further than that. Orange was hilarious.

  4. These arent magic glasses. They dont let someone who sees black and white see color. They let someone who’s partially colorblind see more contrast between colors they ordinarily have trouble telling apart.

    They didnt let him “see color”, they let him see different colors a bit more vividly.

  5. “You can see like we can see now! You are seeing through our eyes!”

    Hearing this was off putting to me for some reason and deflated the magic of it all for me. More trying to understand my own rationale with this than trying to offer a criticism. Thoughts?

  6. Eventually someone has to rain on the parade, and I guess that will be me.

    I’m color blind and I was an early adopter of the Enchroma glasses. They work. They absolutely 100% work.

    But, let me make a few points:

    1) When you first put them on, everything is just weird. Even Enchroma says you have to leave them on for several minutes to get the full effect. This is absolutely true. EVERY SINGLE TIME you put them on, your brain (which has seen the world for 30 years one way) has to readjust itself again to say “Wait, what is this shit?”

    It isn’t a wondrous glorious moment. It’s just confusion. It’s not like a Beethoven symphony starts playing in the background. The world looks weird and, frankly, kind of gross.

    I think most of these “startling reaction” videos is people just going “Woah, WTF?” from initial impression, but compounded with an emotional moment, it makes them get emotional.

    2) The glasses only work in bright sunlight. Inside lighting, or even a cloudy day makes them ineffective.

    3) It still only works with the brightest of red and greens. I’m talking stop signs, BRIGHT green clothing, etc.

    4) While it was a cool experience, in the end I sold my pair of glasses. I was used to the world the way I saw it.

    I know that people who see colors more sharply than I do may think it’s sad to have impaired color vision, but TBH it’s ok. I still see colors (not as well as you), but the world is still colorful to me.

    Remember that even with people who have no color blindness, color vision is still on a scale and it is likely that A LOT of people have sharper color vision than you.

    Do you lament that you can’t see as many shades of purple that they do?

    All that said, if you have the money, it’s worth the try for the experience. But as far as I know, very few people buy these classes and continue to wear them every day.

  7. So, I’m colorblind. My birthday just passed and my family spent the $300 on these glasses and set up this elaborate party at the park with balloons and colorful candies, leis, the whole nine yards.

    They were all staring at me, filming me. It even started raining and a real life fucking rainbow sprouted across the sky, as if to say, “HERE CRYO, SEE ALL THE COLORS OF THE WIND!”

    Only, there was no difference. None. I still couldn’t differentiate the colors I have trouble with. The glasses wouldn’t be like when Dorothy hits Oz and it goes from black and white to Technicolor. It would be more like a regular color movie and then they go outside and you can see the colors better.

    I stood there with all of my wonderful, caring, loving family staring at me, wanting this kind of reaction. Nothing. Blue and purple still looked the same. Couldn’t tell the difference between green and yellow.

    $300 is a *ridiculous* amount for my family to be spending on me, and all they got in return was disappointment. They weren’t aggravated at me or anything, I desperately wanted them to work, for them. But they don’t and it broke my heart.

    I am not too much of a fan of these videos, and I am not 100% convinced that it isn’t mostly peer pressure. The glasses are a filter that filters the light in a way that would make your ability to see color a bit better. They suggest that you wear them 10 hours a day for weeks to get the full effect.

    If these glasses work for you, I’d love to hear of your experience. For me, I feel like I let my family down because they spent all this money and planned an elaborate party for nothing. None of them are even remotely upset, especially not as upset as I am for them. But, I remain massively skeptical of Enchroma and all they stand for.

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