Collective Colour Vision Thread 3

[shgsaint]

Hi Kaijakk,

I've used a colour vision contact lens in the past and it certainly wasn't very useful for many things.

I'm unsure if they're exactly the same as the ones you mention but the one I tried was a clear contact lens with a distinct deep red spot on the centre of vision.

I don't know how it works but I went from not being able to read a couple of Ishihara plates to seeing every one of them. It didn't help all that much.

The negetive side is that there is only one lens and this is placed on your weaker eye. So through your weaker eye everything within your immediate centre of vision is a red colour. The peripheral (spell?) vision is normal but you get a strong clash with normal vision in your strong eye (with no lens in) with a red/clear vision in your weaker eye. It is sort of like looking through those great 3D glasses you get out of cereal packets. The ones with a Red and Green lens.

You then find yourself fighting to control what eye you really want to look out. Your strong eye is dominant but your weaker eye helps the colour vision in certain tasks. I must stress that I personally got confused an awful lot on some things. Because the lens makes you see red, everything has a red tinge to it. Even Green things! I found myself seeing red things in my strong eye that were in fact red, but the lens then turned them into a bright green! It was a very very perculiar experience. I know the contradicts the previous sentence but that did happen.

However red objects and red colours, say red spots on a brown background did then stand out like i've never experienced before. The funny thing is I think I have mild deutanopia. Mild green deficiency.

I think one of the problems I found was that it wans't perscribed with enough accuracy. My optician has given me good eyesight figures but when he ordered the lens with those figures in mind, my sight was a little blurred when looking through the lens. Don't forget the lens has to be specially made for your eyesight and I think mine needed a slight perscription altered to it.

I was told very adamently not to go driving with them and I understood why. I only tried them for a couple of weeks but they did help with the Ishihara plates. I think they may help me spot the brown ball on a snooker table when I watch TV too. In real life I don't have much problem with the colours on a snooker table. Its just tv that makes me struggle.

I'd be interested in seeing how it affects vision for pilots and ATCOs but I think i'd rather trust my natural colour blind vision.

You really need to try it to understand my experience and it is likely that your experience will be different anyway because our colour vision is very unique to each and everyone of us.

Hope that helps.

Shg.