All I can say: Amazing! Yoav Brill created this short film back in 2010 as his graduation film at Bezalel, the Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem.

The story is half-autobiographical. I am a color blind, and so are two of of my brothers, so the film is based both on my and their experiences, with additional dramatization of course. I’ve also held a couple of interviews with color-blind people as a research.

You can find the original post of the film on the video platform vimeo—including the original hebrew version of it. And there is also a short interview with Yoav at: In Animated Film Ishihara, an Exploration of Color Blindness, All in Dots.

I definitely would like to see more of this. Just to make the world know about color blindness and how colorblind people might feel like. And of course to enjoy beautiful animated short films!

What is a straightforward glimpse at a map for most travellers there, is a nightmare of trying to separate similar colours for me,…

This topic is not new to colorblind people. Also in 2007 a group of Norwegian Students thought about Improving the Readability of Public Transport Maps for Colorblind Travelers. Subway Maps in general are definitely not an easy thing to decipher for peoply with any form of color vision deficiency.

Because of that Paul decided to design a new kind of map, which enhances the color information of each subway line with an additional unique pattern. This way it should be possible for any type of colorblind person to read the map easily.

Colorblind London Subway Map

The combination of color and the idea of the scattered pattern supports the readability extremely. For me as a strongly red-blind person, it is much easier to spot the correct line and to find my way around the map. In opposite to most other pattern ideas, which highlight the pattern very prominently, this patterns are just a subtle support for the colors. And because of that, the pattern enhanced colored lines are not only easy to match but also don’t disturb the map as a whole.

In 2006 there was also the decision by Japan’s Public Facilities Making Life Easier for Colorblind People. When we look at Tokyo’s subway map now, we can also see some improvement in the readability.

Colorblind Tokyo Subway Map

In this case the designers went along a different path. They decided to use letters to identify the different lines uniquely. A combination of the line letter and the station number enhances the readability and makes it much easier to find your way around the map. This is definitely an improvement to the old version. But on the other side I personally think that the letters are also a little bit confusing and the map gets to crowded with all the information.

What do you think about the different subway maps for colorblind people from London and Tokyo? Do you think this could be a possibilty to enhance any kind of colored maps? Which color, pattern combination do you think is the most effective one for colorblind users?

You can find the London map of Paul including some further information at: A Map of the London Underground for Colourblind People.

Unfortunately since this report there was no further evidence, that any form of color vision deficiency might improve under certain circumstances the ability to spot anything which is camouflaged.

Now Daniel, a 5th grade student of Rockland County, colorblind himself, developed a little test to evaluate the relationship between color blindness and camouflage. Have a look at the example picture below. How long did it take to spot the animal on the picture? Or can’t you spot it at all?

The test developed by Daniel includes 24 of such images. He collects data about how many of them you can spot and how long it takes. It would be great to see some more people—colorblind or not—taking this little camouflage and color blindness test.

Hope you like the test. Share your thoughts and ideas. And I hope we will see some results of it in the future.

Take the test at: http://debsmusings.articulate-online.com/4033933829.

The Eyedox genetic test for color blindness doesn’t need any pictures or complicated apparatus, but just a few cells from the inner cheek from where your DNA can be extracted from. This makes the test also available for young toddlers and the results can’t be influenced by misunderstanding, light conditions or any other external factors.

Many colorblind people all around the world are looking forward to get such a scientific, precise and fool-prove possibility to test their color blindness. As there are many different tests around these days, and even some online possibilities to test your color vision, you are never really 100% sure if the results tell you the truth. With a genetic test at hand a new reliable option is available. On option which can make you feel more sure to know your real grade of color vision.

Eyedox Color Blindness Diagnosis

If you take an Eyedox color vision deficiency test, not only your cvd type will be diagnosed but also the severity of it. In detail this means:

• CVD Type: The test is diagnosing anomalous trichromacy including the different subtypes deuteranomaly (green-weak) and protanomaly (red-weak) and also dichromacy with the subtypes deuteranopia (green-blind) and protanopia (red-blind). This means any type of red-green color blindness is diagnosed in detail.
   
• Severity: The severity of your color vision deficiency is shown on a scale from 1 to 100 and it is also assigned to one of the degrees very mild, mild, medium, strong or very strong.

Personally I think the strength of the Eyedox test will be the differentiation between a dichromacy and an anomalous trichromacy and a detailed severity analysis of your color blindness. On the other side we have the weakness of the test, that tritanomaly and tritanopia (blue-yellow color blindness) can not be tested with it.

Genetic Treatment of Color Blindness

Many people are not only looking for an accurate cvd test but also a possibility to treat their deficiency and get rid of it. Especially all the colorblind pilot, police officer, and firefighter aspirants, who are rejected because of their visual handicap. Genevolve did not only invest into a genetic color vision test, but is also looking into the development of a therapy to treat color blindness. Hereafter you can find a possible timeline for this next huge step forward in scientific research of color vision:

1. In the year 2009 some squirrel monkeys were cured of their color blindness by genetic therapy.
2. In the same year Genevolve was founded, a “life sciences company which researches, designs and commercializes non-invasive molecular diagnostic assays and treatments for clinical applications for the color vision industry”.
3. In 2010 a Survey on Gene Therapy for Red-Green Color Blindness was done.
4. In 2011 Genevolve announces Eyedox, a genetic color blindness test which is based on a non-invasive molecular diagnostics.
5. Also in 2011 the US Federal Drug Administration (FDA) requires further animal tests which will require maybe another one to two years of testing.
6. If everything runs smoothly, after that for the first time a handful of selected red-green colorblind people will get a genetic treatment (those are already preselected and nobody can apply for this first test group!)
7. If they achieve success with the first group, more test subjects will be needed to broaden the treatment and get more detailed test results. If you like to, you can enroll for this second phase. But be aware, this can take another one to three years until those test will get started.

Some Thoughts

I really think it is great work what they are all doing. We will all learn a lot more about our color vision and maybe in the future, some people can even cure their color vision deficiency. But I also think we should ask ourselves, if we really need a genetic treatment just to see some more colors in our life or to get a possibility for the job of our dreams. Do we have to alter our genes for that? What else happens to a human body if we do it? How far shall and can we go when it comes to the innermost of every thing alive?

Anyway. Genevolve, we are all eager to learn more about your next steps and your success stories of treating color blindness and we are looking forward to learn more about your genetic color blindness test as soon as it is available.

Oliver Sacks is a physician, best-selling author, and professor of neurology and psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center. In 1997 Dr. Sacks wrote a book about tiny Pacific atoll of Pingelap, where the genetic disease of complete color blindness (achromatopsia) is much more common than in the rest of the world.

One year after that BBC made a four-part documentary including the Island of the Colorblind. Hereafter you can watch this video, which is split into six smaller parts.

Watching this documentary you can learn a lot about color vision, how it feels to live with complete color blindness and of course a lot about the people from Pingelap.

Island of the Colorblind — Part 1 of 6

Island of the Colorblind — Part 2 of 6

Island of the Colorblind — Part 3 of 6

Island of the Colorblind — Part 4 of 6

Island of the Colorblind — Part 5 of 6

Island of the Colorblind — Part 6 of 6

If you want to read more from Oliver Sacks, you can visit his personal homepage at www.oliversacks.com.