About eight percent of the population is colorblind. Among the colorblind are individuals that have severe red-green colorblindness; meaning, they see far less red and green than the average person. Researchers and scientists have been trying to develop a way to put colorblind-correcting technology into a pair of glasses; something so magical it could drastically improve the way colorblind people see. EnChroma CX Receptor sunglasses come with a warning label that says the following: When first trying on the lens, the unusual appearance of colors may be visually distracting”. Because I cannot speak from experience, take Kelly Kittell's (from Boingboing.net) immediate reaction as an example of how life changing seeing color for the first time can be.

“It's (the warning label) a bit of an understatement. The first time I saw brick red I was so overwhelmed I stopped cold. Purple and lavender, where have you been all my life? You won't be able to stop yourself from peeking under the glasses over and over again to verify your favorite gray sweater is actually dusty rose.”

Back in July 2013, the New York Times wrote about a few new eyeglass technologies created for the visually impaired, some of which intend to handle severe nearsightedness or farsightedness. One particular pair, called the O2AMP Color-Assisting Glasses, were actually developed to give doctors “a clearer view of veins and vasculature, bruising, cyanosis, pallor, rashes, erythema, and other variations in blood O2 level, and concentration”, particularly in bright light. The realization that they may “cure” red-green colorblindness was actually a side effect that wasn't first expected. But, the $300 pair of lenses didn't help everybody. In fact, Amazon reviews for O2AMP made it clear that the more severe the red-green colorblind, the more difficult these lenses were to correct.

Back to the EnChroma CX sunglasses. Developed by a group of engineers in Berkeley, EnChroma, a startup that has raised over 1.3 million dollars from the help of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and others, is now hoping to provide detail on how its technology rivals other products. Colorblind EnChroma wearers have experienced up to 30 percent transformation in their ability to identify colors, and a 70 percent increase in color discrimination. Designed to be worn outdoors in bright light, and take about 10 minutes for your brain to start processing the colors, theses glasses will set you back $600. They use “a mathematical formula to directly communicated with the brain's visual system. This system is calculated to help a colorblind person observe the correct ratios the brain needs for normal color vision”. EnChroma glasses contain over 100 reflective coatings at various opacities. The company hopes to utilize its technology to create new lenses that will benefit people with other types of vision problems. The EnChroma Website shows the different varieties of sunglasses styles they offer, as well as a more detailed explanation of how their technology works.