Drugs/Therapy

Inventor Develops Glasses that Cure Color-Blindness

By Makini Brice | Update Date: Feb 07, 2013 01:06 PM EST

For color-blind individuals, the condition may be cured - just by sliding on some spectacles. 2AI Labs has invented glasses that correct red-green color-blindness based on research conducted over two years about how human eyes evolved.

As developer Mark Changizi explained to Io9, most mammals have two dimensions of color: brightness, or grayscale, and the yellow-blue dimension. Some primates - including most humans - have a third dimension as well: red-green. The prevailing theory is that some primates developed this dimension helped primates find fruit in the forest. Changizi doubted this theory because primates have highly different diets - but the same vision.

Changizi believes that the third dimension developed in order to sense signals given from emotions, like blushing. He hypothesized that, if this was the case, these primates would have naked patches on their body. Sure enough, the primates with color vision have bare faces, rumps and other spots that show color variation. That is because color vision is sensitive to the level of oxygenation in blood - like that which occurs when you ball and release a tight fist, to find blue and yellow areas.

As a result of this research, the developers created the Oxy-Amp and Oxy-Iso glasses that turn up a person's ability to see blood underneath the skin. At first, they were simply created for general use, but soon realized its ability to help people who suffer from color-blindness.

The company has three types of lenses for the glasses, two of which can be used for medical purposes, because they can allow doctors to identify properties of the blood with their eyes. The company is also looking into the development of sunglasses. As they explain it, sunglasses prevent eyes against the sun, but also hinder the wearer's ability to see people. Their glasses would provide shade and the ability to see people. The technology could also be used to make skin look younger, since young skin has a youthful appearance because it is more transparent.

According to the Telegraph, color-blindness affects 10 percent of men and a small portion of women. The news outlet said that, when tested on a color-blind individual, it allowed him to pass the Ishihara color-blind test.

The test features plates made up of dots with a number in it. Color-blind people cannot identify the number.

The glasses are for sale here.

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