EnChroma has taken colour blind testing to the next level. Unlike the old Ishihara test developed back in 1917, our new patent-pending colour blind test uses cone isolation to test the sensitivity of each of your eye’s three colour-sensing cones and scores them to show you how close or far you are from having normal colour vision as well as what type of colour blindness you have.
Cone cells are one of three types of photoreceptor cells in the retina responsible for colour vision and high visual acuity. Cone isolation is one of the latest advancements in colour vision science and has been crucial for gaining a deeper understanding of colour vision, visual acuity, the overall functioning of the human visual system, and the fundamental role these specialized photoreceptor cells play in our ability to perceive and interpret the visual world. Cone isolation refers to the process of independently stimulating and studying each of the colour sensing cone cells in the retina of the eye.
There are three types of cone cells in your eye - L, M, and S cones. Each of these three colour-sensing cones are sensitive to a specific range of light wavelengths. The L cone is sensitive to Long wavelengths, the M cone is sensitive to Medium wavelengths, and the S cone is sensitive to Short wavelengths. For ease of understanding, these cones are often referred to as Red, Green, and Blue cones respectively. For those with Protan colour blindness, their Red cones have a deficiency in their ability to sense colours in that spectrum while those with Deutan colour blindness have deficiency in their Green cones.
EnChroma’s new colour blindness test is the only online test capable of testing and scoring each type of cone. After taking the test, you’ll not only know if you’re colour blind, you’ll know what type of colour blindness you have (Deutan, Protan, or Tritan) as well as how close each cone is to normal functioning. Each cone will be given a percentage score which represents at what percentage of normal each cone is functioning (e.g. 60% of normal).
Unlike Ishihara tests which were developed to only screen for colour blindness, Enchroma’s new cone isolation colour blind test can be used to track improvements in your colour vision while wearing our glasses. As an example, during our research testing prior to launch, we saw those with Deutan colour blindness moving from 22% of normal up to 87% of normal colour vision upon the first trial of our glasses and those with Protan colour blindness moving from 13% of normal to 85% of normal. With extended wearing of our glasses, those participants are also likely to see additional improvement over time based on recent independent research results.
If you’d like to take the test, click here.
