You have probably seen one of the many viral videos: Someone puts on a pair of normal-looking glasses, and they gasp, or break down in tears. Colorblind, for the first time they are seeing the range of contrasts in the fall foliage, or the true color of a loved one’s eyes.
EnChroma Chief Executive Officer Erik Ritchie wears EnChroma glasses at the Marin Art and Garden Center on Nov. 21 in Ross, Calif.
The technology behind those revelations? Berkeley-based company EnChroma, which makes glasses that enrich color vision for the colorblind. Erik Ritchie is the company’s CEO, and he shares his vision for the future of seeing in color.
Q: What is color blindness?
A: To an extent, color blindness is a misnomer. There are very few people who are truly colorblind and only see in grayscale. Most people have what we term “color vision deficiency.”
The eye has three cones that perceive color, they roughly equate to red, blue and green. The majority of folks that are colorblind have red-green color blindness, either the red or the green cone is deficient.
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For folks who have color vision deficiency, there is an overlapping of colors. So greens look brown, reds look brown.
Q: How common is it?
A: It’s really quite prevalent. One in 12 men, and one in 200 women.
For someone that’s young and has color vision deficiency, oftentimes what is unfortunate is they are labeled as being slow learners. Lots of folks don’t even realize they’re colorblind, sometimes until high school or college. If it was known, they would be able to find ways to accommodate it.
The last we checked, only about 11 out of 50 states require testing for color blindness.
Q: For people who are colorblind, what other things can be difficult?
A: It affects them in lots and lots of ways, both big and small. If you start with school-age folks, just think, everything in school is color-coded. From the teams, to the courses, to the games, to the crayons, everything is about color.
When cooking, is that steak that you’re cooking raw, rare, medium?
Then in your work life there are presentations, PowerPoints, lots of the materials are color coded.
I was actually talking to someone who was trying on the EnChroma glasses for the first time. He was an audiophile, with lots of stereo equipment. And he said, ‘I can never tell if they’re on or not, because the lights are always on, it’s just whether it’s green or red that tells me whether it’s on or off.’ There’s so much information that is just kind of lost.
Q: How is your company addressing this accessibility issue?
A: We have glasses, and those glasses really allow people to see a lot more color. Essentially, what they do is manipulate light coming through the lens, we pull those signals apart, so it reduces that level of confusion.
In addition to the products, we do a lot of advocacy through our Color Accessibility Program.
Q: What is the Color Accessibility Program? What are some examples of work the program has done?
A: We work with state parks, entertainment venues, museums all around the world, to enable them to be able to loan out our glasses to colorblind folks that come to their locations. This allows those folks to enjoy the art museum, the scenery, being able to see more color.
Then beyond that, we also work in school systems to be able to provide loaner programs. And we do a lot around education. We create these side-by-side images that show what a normal color vision person would see and what someone who is colorblind sees.
When parents see it, it really lands with them what their child who is colorblind is going through.
Q: You have been with the company for almost three years now. Can you talk about how you’ve seen it grow and change in that time?
A: We have expanded internationally, and we’ve come out with brand new lenses. We hold a number of patents in this space, but as the dyes and chemicals that we use to make the glasses advance, the actual lenses themselves advance, and we’ve been able to improve the performance. Over a previous generation lens, with the new lenses you get up to 35% better performance.
Then just this year, we’ve launched our brand new color blindness test. So the original test is the Ishihara test that was built back in 1917. We’ve now developed a new test, that allows us to actually test each one of the three cones in the eye that are used to perceive color.
Q: Can you talk about the future of the company?
A: There’s much more awareness of the issue globally. There are 350 million people worldwide who are colorblind; 13 million just in the U.S. So we’ve only really scratched the surface.
Right now we’re working on solutions to go into contact lenses. And we’re working on solutions with lighting. And every year we do our Color Blindness Awareness Month, and this year there were over 400 institutions around the world that were participating.
We are a business. We are here to make money, but at the same time, and this is a big thing for me, I want to do something that does good in the world. So even if someone doesn’t use my glasses, if we’ve been able to change that school district to do things that help accommodate a colorblind person, that’s a win.
25 words you've probably been mispronouncing your entire life
Sommelier
At nicer restaurants, the staff might roll their eyes if you refer to the sommelier as "wine guy" or "wine gal." They won't be any less condescending if you pronounce it "so-MAH-lier." The proper way to say it is "suh-mel-YAY."
Cavalry
Send in the ... er, uh ... those soldier guys who ride horses! It's frequently pronounced "CALV-ary" but it's pronounced just the way it's spelled: "CAV-alry."
GIF
We love watching GIFs, so we should know how to pronounce them. The "G" is soft, not hard, so pronounce it like you pronounce the peanut butter: "Jif"
Although, to be honest, this one's totally debateable.
Bruschetta
Don’t let the tricky pronunciation deter you from ordering this yummy bread-based appetizer at an Italian restaurant. The key is to remember that the “ch” is pronounced like a hard “k” in Italian. Just think of our wooden friend Pinocchio. Hence, the antipasto is pronounced “broo-SKET-a” instead of “broo-SHET-a.”
Pulitzer
The Pulitzer Prize is awarded annually in 13 categories for achievements in journalism, literature and musical composition. It's named for Hungarian-born Joseph Pulitzer, publisher of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the New York World newspapers. But is the name pronounced "PEW-litzer" or "PULL-itzer"? Answer: Pulitzer's father had always told people to say "pull it sir."
Gala
Some people say "GAY-luh," others say "GAL-uh." The "GAY-luh" people are correct and will no doubt celebrate with some sort of festive affair.
Cache
This word for a storage place (usually for money or weapons) is one syllable, not two, so don't be tempted to add panache to the end. It's simply pronounced "cash." Some people mispronounce it "cash-AY," but that's how you pronounce "cachet," a word meaning prestige.
Worcestershire sauce
Ask 10 people how to pronounce the name of this pungent fermented condiment and you might get 10 different answers. I mean, just look at that word. It's a linguistic nightmare, right? Looking at it, you'd think it would start with a "WAR" sound, but it's really more of a "WUSS" sound. It's "WUSS-ter-sher sauce" Fornuately, they'll usually put it in your bloody mary even if you don't ask for it by name.
Mauve
This is one of those words that probably had you scratching your head the first time you saw it. Heck, we're still reluctant to buy clothes of this color because it doesn't seem like we're saying it right. It's "mawv," and it does NOT rhyme with "stove."
Abalone
This large mollusk is basically a marine snail, and it can be quite tasty. If you're bold enough to order it at a higher-end restaurant say it as "AB-uh-loh-nee" rather than "AH-buh-lone."
Meme
So you Rickrolled 15 friends on multiple occasions and still don't know how to pronounce this word? Shame on you. These viral sensations are here with us forever, apparently, so you should know that it's "meem" and not "mehm" or "mee mee."
Gyro
Those of us who grew up playing with gyroscopes might be tempted to as for a "JEYE-roh" when we want a yummy Greek sandwich on pita bread. But it's pronounced either "YEE-roh" or "ZHIHR-oh." (And let's wait until we've conquered this word before we tackle the correct pronunciation of that yogurt sauce on gyros: tzatziki)
Chutzpah
The definition of "chutzpah" is an attitude or behavior so rude or shocking that people might feel compelled to admire it. It was shocking — and not in an admirable way — when then-U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann said in 2011 that President Barack Obama had "CHOOT-spah." It takes audacity to sound out the "ch" of this Yiddish-based word. It's "HUUT-spah."
Sherbet
It's tempting to add an extra "r" to the end of this fruity frozen treat, making it sound like "SHER-bert." There's no way to resist a delicious bowl of sherbet, but use your willpower to resist a second "r" sound. It's just "SHER-bet."
Niche
We'll give you some leeway on this one. "Nitch" is correct. And if you want to go all Euro on us and say "neesh," that's acceptable, too. But please don't hit us with "nee-SHAY."
Antarctica
There is a misconception that the first "c" is silent. This is as mistaken as the belief that Antarctica is a tropical paradise. Let the "c" have its say! It's "ant-ARC-tica."
Nuclear
George W. Bush pronounced it as "NUKE-you-lerr." Jimmy Carter pronounced it as "NOOKEY-err." You'd think a president would need to have this one down cold, since it pertains to that all-important briefcase. Guys, it's "NEW-clee-er."
Acai
It's only a four-letter word, but it's a tricky little devil with three syllables. The small, berrylike fruit is pronounced "ah-sigh-EE" and not "ah-KYE" or "ack-KAY" or "ah-SIGH."
Rendezvous
So many potential pronunciation pitfalls here. It starts with "rahn," not "ren." A lot of people want to pronounce the "z," but it's silent. So is the "s" at the end. So while some people might accidentally say it as "REN-dez-voos," it's "RAHN-duh-voo" (and "RAHN-day-voo" is generally accepted.)
Salmon
It will sound fishy if you pronounce the "l" It's "SAM-uhn," not "SAL-mun."
Affidavit
Even if your attorney's name is David, please don't pronounce this word as "affi-david." Let's be more informal about it. Pronounce it "affi-DAVE-it."
Candidate
The electorate is angry, and voters are anxious to vote out the first of the two "d" sounds in "candidate." Hopefully it has an October surprise in store, because "CAN-ni-date" is unfit for office. We need that first "d" to give us a worthy "CAN-did-date" and help us pronounce the word correctly.
Foyer
Don't get fancy and pronounce it "foy-AY." That entry hall in your house is a "foy-ur."
Tenet
It can be hard to avoid adding an extra "n" sound at the end to make it "TEN-ent," but we don't believe we can live with that extra "n" sound. It's TEN-ett."
Pronunciation
How fitting we end with this word. What sometimes trips people up is the difference between "pronounce" and "prenunciation." With the "noun" gone missing from the latter, you really have to hit the "NUN" part of the word: "Pro-NUN-see-ay-shun."
