
Hacker changes the way people with colour blindness see the world - zeedotme
http://thenextweb.com/apps/2010/12/18/did-a-hacker-just-cure-colour-blindness/
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pygy_
Edit:

tl;dr - color is a 3D space. Colorblind people can only percieve two of these.
This device may change the projection of the 3D space on their 2D space, but
it will not magically make the third dimension pop out.

\-- original post, a bit less synthetic.

Color is a 3D space (wherever you chose to put the axes, RGB, HSL...) because
we have three subtypes of color-related light detectors, called cones, in our
retina (there are more photosensitive cells, but they aren't involved in
color).

Each cone is sensitive to a range of the visible spectrum, with peak
sensitivity respectively in what we call red, green and blue. These ranges are
overlapping, though, which allows our brain to interpret monochromatic light
correctly by weighting the response of each type of cone.

See [1] for a schema and a more thorough explanation.

Note also that magenta exists as a color (ie unique subjective experience),
even though no monochromatic light can evoke it. You get it by stimulating the
red and the blue cones, sparring the green one.

All of this to say that with two cones, you're stuck in a 2D space of color
blindness.

This tool may help colorblind people to get a different projection of the 3D
space in their 2D detection field, but they will not be able to perceive the
3D space at once.

\--

For those who didn't get their dose of photoreceptors trivia:

The retina also contains another type of detectors called rods, which are much
more sensitive to light than the cones, and is involved in both day and night
vision whereas the cones are only stimulated in daylight This explains why you
don't percieve colors in the darkness.

At last, the recently discovered melanopsin containing ganglion cells are
involved in the circadian cycle and other light-related acivity in the
autonomous nevous system.

\--

[1] <http://www.unm.edu/~toolson/human_cone_response.htm>

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extension
Except we don't perceive the dimensions of color as comprehensively as we
perceive multi-dimensional space. We can intuitively construct straight lines,
planes, spheres, cubes and various other geometric primitives. We can't
construct those things in color space without a lot of specialized knowledge.

We basically perceive colors as similar or not, as well as a few basic
attributes like brightness and saturation. If we're missing a dimension, we
just can't differentiate between as many colors as other people. This is why
people can go their entire lives without realizing they are colorblind.

So, if you can compress the normal range of colors into the range that can be
seen by someone with partial colorblindness, it could potentially make all the
difference.

 _Note also that magenta exists as a color (ie unique subjective experience),
even though no monochromatic light can evoke it_

I don't think _any_ light can evoke it, right? You would have to artificially
stimulate the optic nerve to see it.

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simonsquiff
The opposite would be really good for designers - augmented reality of what a
colour blind person would see. Would be good to check if your design is going
to make life difficult for the colour blind.

~~~
teaspoon
You can upload screenshots to this free service:

<http://www.vischeck.com/vischeck/vischeckImage.php>

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jaxn
I am looking forward to testing this out.

I wish they would have a colorblind test at the start and adjust the settings
for me based on what kind of colorblindness I have.

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po
Interestingly, and perhaps more importantly, the theory works the other way
too. It is possible to simulate color blindness for normal people as well. I
know I've seen an application that allowed you to view various things as the
various colorblind conditions would see it. It allowed you to check things
like button contrast on websites.

Another thing I don't understand is that if you're used to seeing things in a
certain color space, and this app "fixes" it, then wouldn't it look strange to
you? I mean, I get that it can be useful to discern colors that look the same
to you, but it's not like the image will be more "normal" for you right?

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bconway
Great app. I wouldn't recommend using it in a theater, though (the original
inspiration).

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phillipmstewart
Didn't want to waste my money on this, but judging from the fact that this app
doesn't use magic(and screen caps), I can tell you that it doesn't work.

You can separate colors on a spectrum all you want... it doesn't make a bit of
difference.

Now... if you had it display the name of the color... great. That would be a
huge asset. Not an expensive chore that just confuses me more.

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rasur
This is quite nice, but the real killer version would be when the user has
"virtual light" glasses (cf William Gibson, or - more physically - Prof. Steve
Mann's "EyeTap" wearable computing ideas).

Then the colour-blind user would receive the benefit as long as they were
wearing glasses (contrasted to looking through a phone when they needed to
check a colour).

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runjake
As a colorblind person, I'd like to see something similar to Barcode Scanner
with a smaller reticle to identify colors (RGB | human equivalent name) the
reticle is over.

When I have some time, I plan to do this myself, if nobody else does.

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sp332
Have you tried the Color Identifier app?
[http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/color-
identifier/id363346987?...](http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/color-
identifier/id363346987?mt=8) Discussed here
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1704933>

~~~
cloudwalking
I'm colorblind and have used this. I find it frustrating, because the names
are often completely useless. The app's author points this out in the linked
thread:

"The whimsical color names made me think that the app would be less useful for
the colorblind, as most people don't understand colors like "Cosmic" and
"Hippie Green." So I thought the app would be mostly used as a toy; a fun way
to see what the "color" of your friend's face is ("Tacao"!)."

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greengarstudios
I've created and released a new app, Color ID Free, that offers simple color
names. It's free. iTunes link: <http://bit.ly/dMgKrF>

I can't update the old app because doing so would require dropping support for
iPhone OS 3 (which means the app would no longer be available to users of the
original iPhone and iPod touch).

What do you think of the new app with simple color names?

~~~
cloudwalking
I (unfortunately) now use Android. I'll get this app as soon as I switch back
to iPhone. I'm really excited that you made such a thing.

