Free App Could Help Colorblind Users

While glasses from EnChroma Labs have been helping those with color blindness see more clearly since they first came on the market in 2012, a new app called Color Binoculars has recently been released by Microsoft. According to the iTunes description, this app “helps colorblind individuals distinguish colors in their everyday lives. Using your iPhone’s camera, Color Binoculars adjusts the colors that you see to replace difficult color combinations, like red and green, with more easily distinguishable combinations, like pink and green.”

People with color blindness have difficulties distinguishing between certain colors – primarily red and green, and sometimes yellow and blue. This occurs when the structures in the eyes, called cones, that allow people to see variations of the colors red, green, and blue are altered.

According to Popular Science, when users look at red and green objects through the app the reds will appear brigher and more pink, and the greens will appear darker, “making differences between the two more obvious.” While it doesn’t correct the colors, and it won’t allow users with color blindness to suddenly see red or green, the app will make it easier for users to distinguish between the objects and improve their day to day lives.