How Color-Blind Corrective Glasses Work

In recent years, videos of people with color deficiencies have gone viral, showcasing their first experiences with viewing the world in full color. In these videos, color-blind corrective glasses are often gifted to people dealing with color-blind impairment, ultimately changing life as they know it. Corrective glasses give people with color deficiencies the ability to finally see the world in full bloom. There’s no current cure for color blindness, so these glasses are the next best solution. But how do color-blind corrective glasses work? 

What is color-blindness? 

Color-blindness impairs vision by decreasing the depth and vibrancy of certain colors. Cone photoreceptors—often referred to as cones—located inside the retina are responsible for perceiving color based on their sensitivity to light. The three types of color-sensing cones are red, blue, and green, and they’re responsible for sending wavelengths to the brain for interpretation. People most commonly experience color blindness as a difficulty seeing reds and greens. This is a result of an overlap between the green light- and red light-detecting wavelengths, which makes it difficult for the brain to differentiate between these two colors.  

How do color-blind corrective glasses work?  

Corrective glasses use light filtering within the lenses to distinguish and improve the vibrancy, depth, and detail of colors. This filtering blocks out any overlapping wavelengths of light, such as red and green overlap, which typically confuse the brain and create the impairment. The brain can then properly distinguish between the overlapping colors. These glasses cannot change a case of a complete absence of photoreceptors, but they’re great solutions for deficiency-related color-blindness.  

In short, color-blind corrective glasses improve light filtering by blocking out overlapping wavelengths of light, giving people who experience the deficiency a chance to see vibrant and full colors. With this technology, people affected by color-blindness can now enjoy the view.