EnChroma and Pinnacle Scopes Offer Scenic Viewers Specially Modified for People with Colour Blindness

– EnChroma Lenses Enable Access to Colourful Views for Those with Colour Blindness –

Berkeley, CA & Cobourg ON, CN – December 9, 2021 – EnChroma – creators of glasses for colour blindness – and Pinnacle Scopes, makers of Hi-Spy Viewing Machines – today announced a partnership that enables people with red-green colour blindness to more fully experience the beauty of colours at national parks, scenic overlooks, nature preserves, viewing towers, zoos, boardwalks and other colourful settings. 

“This partnership illustrates EnChroma’s continued commitment to expand accessibility to more of life’s colourful views and moments for millions of people with colour vision deficiencies all over the world,” said Erik Ritchie, CEO of EnChroma. “We are excited to work with Pinnacle Scopes to extend our footprint so colour blind people can experience EnChroma through a scenic viewer or our glasses at as many locations as possible.” 

One in 12 men (8%) and one in 200 women (.5%) are colour blind – 13 million in the US and 350 million worldwide. While people with normal colour vision see over one million shades of colour, the colour blind only see an estimated 10% of hues and shades. To them, green and yellow, gray and pink, purple and blue, and red and brown look similar, and colours appear muted and dull. EnChroma’s science-backed lenses expand the range of colours the colour blind can see and make colours more vibrant, clear and distinct.

 “We are thrilled to team with EnChroma to offer colour blind accessible viewers to our customers,” said Rod MacKenzie, founder and President of Pinnacle Scopes. “There is already pent up demand for these special viewers, and we look forward to literally being able to introduce millions of people to a whole new world of colour while helping organizations meet their goals for accessibility in the process.” 

Hi-Spy Viewing Machines can be found in 500+ locations in 40+ countries including: Yellowstone Archview Guesthouse, Montana, Seoul Sky Tower in South Korea, Brooklyn Bridge Park, New York, Kiev, Ukraine, Birch Aquarium in San Diego, Calif., Stratosphere Tower in Las Vegas, Nevada, the Toronto Zoo and Niagara Falls in Canada, Viareggio Pier in Tuscany, Italy, the Washington Monument, Washington, DC, Trollfjord in Norway and many others. Organizations can retrofit existing Hi-Spy units to convert them for colour blindness while new viewers can be purchased with the addition of EnChroma’s lenses for a small fee.

Today’s news builds on the momentum from EnChroma’s successful partnership with scenic viewer maker SeeCoast Manufacturing to offer more choices to park systems, cities, wildlife refuges, entertainment venues, cruise ship operators and other venues. Tennessee Tourism first installed EnChroma lenses in SeeCoast viewers and now offers them at 13 scenic locations across the state. Watch their award-winning video that captures the reactions of colour blind visitors.

Organizations that need to place their orders prior to the end of the fiscal year can do so now and expect delivery in the first quarter of 2022. To order viewers, and learn more about EnChroma eyewear, please email accessiblity@enchroma.com. To view images depicting how people with colour vision deficiency see colours, click here. 

When looking through the viewers, those with normal colour vision will experience more vivid colour. A recent study by the University of California, Davis, and France’s INSERM Stem Cell and Brain Research Institute, demonstrated the effectiveness of EnChroma’s lens technology. 

EnChroma Colour Accessibility Program

EnChroma is the lead advocate for “colour accessibility” through its EnChroma Colour Accessibility Program. The program helps public venues, museums, schools, state parks, libraries, and other organizations purchase and loan EnChroma glasses to colour blind students and guests to help make schoolwork that involves colour, colourful exhibits, attractions and/or experiences accessible to those who are colour blind. 

About Pinnacle Scopes

Located on the Great Lakes in Cobourg, Ontario, Canada, Pinnacle products developed its first viewer in 1991. Sold under the brand name Hi-Spy Viewing Machines, we now proudly have units installed in over 40 countries and across the United States and Canada. At Hi-Spy, we make the finest, most attractive viewfinders (binocular and telescope) in the world based on our eye-catching Scandinavian designs, which is a major appeal for users. Our robust, heavy-duty products are built to sustain intense usage, extreme weather and vandalism. Learn more at http://www.hispyviewing.com, 289.252.2019 or email rod@hispyviewing.com.

About EnChroma

Based in Berkeley, Calif., EnChroma produces leading-edge eyewear for colour blindness and low vision, and other solutions for colour vision, sold online and through Authorized Retailers worldwide. Invented in 2010, EnChroma’s patented eyewear combines the latest in colour perception, neuroscience and lens innovation to improve the lives of people with colour vision deficiency around the world. EnChroma received an SBIR grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). It earned the 2016 Tibbetts Award from the U.S. Small Business Administration in recognition of the firm’s innovative impact on the human experience through technology, and the 2020 Innovation Award in Life Sciences from the Bay Area’s East Bay Economic Development Alliance. For more information call 510-497-0048 or visit enchroma.com.

Kent Streeb
Director of Public Relations and Partnerships
P: 530.908.9225
kent@enchroma.com

Pinnacle Scopes
Rod MacKenzie
Founder & President
289-252-2019
rod@hispyviewing.com