
From there, Barber and Changizi embarked on a two-year odyssey to find a manufacturer to make the eyewear that would enable them to sell commercially. Through 2AI Labs, they were able push their discoveries into mainstream applications without having to rely on grants; any funding they earn from their inventions is reinvested. They also forewent some of the traditional development steps. “We bootstrapped the bench testing and we didn’t do any market research,” Barber says.
Plenty of cold calling to potential manufacturers ensued. “As scientists talking to manufacturers, it seemed like we were speaking a different language,” Barber says. Not to mention looking strange as they walked around wearing the purple and green-tinted glasses at trade shows. Changizi says they finally got lucky last year and found a few manufacturers able to produce the specialized specs. All are available on Amazon for just under $300.
Changizi and Barber aren’t done yet. In addition to overseeing sales reps who are trying to get the glasses into the hands of more buyers, the two are in talks with companies such as Oakley and Ray-Ban to put the technology into sunglasses. Imagine, says Changizi, if you could more easily see if you are getting a sunburn at the beach despite the glare. They’re testing a mirrored O2Amp lens specially for poker players (think: all the better to see the flush of a bluffer). Changizi says they are also working with cosmetics companies to embed the technology in creams that would enhance the skin’s vasculature. Move over Hope in a Jar. Barber says it's not clear how profitable any of this will be yet: "We just want the technology to be used."
Five amazing, clean technologies that will set us free, in this month's energy-focused issue. Also: how to build a better bomb detector, the robotic toys that are raising your children, a human catapult, the world's smallest arcade, and much more.


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Now that's my style of business. Throw out the damn text book and think for yourself.
More people need to make use of the technology we have and quit acting like we're still in the stone age.
For example, there is no energy crisis, we have nuclear power at our disposal.
These guys and others like them should be managing the planet.
Not the greedy, ignorant politicians.
It seems to me that if these glasses did nothing else but tint purple, they would still allow you to pass a color blindness test because they would alter the brightness of some colors differently then others. That is a far cry from "curing color blindness" since the glasses would simply make a different set of colors invisible. For all the shop talk, I don't see any evidence that these guys have done anything other then invent a color.
Whats does it matter how simple or cheap it is as long as it works?
Reminds me of this guy.
ted.com/talks/pranav_mistry_the_thrilling_potential_of_sixthsense_technology.html
What's the point in gaining knowledge if we don't use it for everyone's benefit?
For years there has been a contact lens called X-Chrom Lens for red-green color deficient people. It was originally only available in a Hard Lens style, but now is also available in Soft Lenses. They worked, not by curing the color blindness, but by compensating for the deficiency, just as regular glasses don't cure vision problems like nearsightedness, but compensates for it.
I wore the hard lens style for 25 years to work in law enforcement, starting in 1979. It was a single dark red lens worn in the non-dominant eye, and was not available in standard glasses, since it would look odd with one dark red lens and one clear lens (although I made a pair of "mirrored Police Sunlasses") in case I couldn't wear the contact lens.
If these new glasses are very discreet, I can see them being very popular with the number of red-green color deficient people in the world. Even with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the world still continues to color code things, primarily using Red and Green (like traffic signals, indicator lights on electronic devices, etc).
You guys did this story on Feb 8
http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-02/how-mark-changizi-conquered-colorblindness-glasses
In the comments section, somebody from the UK talks about color blind glasses that have been available for years.
KillerT: What I was saying was that while these glasses may have uses, it is dishonest to say that they "cure color blindness."
It sounds to me like Composersf's X-Chrom lenses would have a stronger case for the claim, as they would create a brightness conflict between the two eyes when a color that the person could not normally see was present. A red shirt would look the same through both eyes, but a green shirt would look darker through the red lens then through the clear one.
AGReily is correct. A red lens will only allow the red spectrum to pass through. Therefore,reds get very vivid while greens are very dark (the green spectrum having no red component). The initial effect is almost a 3d image. After a few days, the brain gets used to the 2 eyes seeing different colors and the 3d efect disappears. The wearer still has to "relearn" their colors as the contact lens does not cure colorblindness, only compensates for it.
I am curious how it would work out with the O2 Amp glasses being in front of both eyes.
The story is a con. Didydmium Glasses are easy to find on the web at prices far under $300 and work just the same. If you wanted to see a difference with the regular vision you would merely have to look over or around the glasses. This would solve the compensation effect of wearing them on one eye only, as you would be controlling the change.
There are many benefits as they block the sodium flare of a fire and some parts of the infrared that are not blocked by iron green sunglasses. By blocking the Sodium flare they also make fireplace fires much prettier than they are as seen without the effect.
The effect noted in the article was noted in a book on colored glass from 1906.
Checkout Colormax for color vision correction. They have a 100% success rate and guarantee success with passing the Ishihara color test.