Page 78 - South Mississippi Living - June, 2024

The World of Color Vision Deficiency is Changing
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DIFFERENCE IN HUES
Any sunset walk along a beautiful Gulf Coast beach is a feast for the senses. You can feel the beige hues of sugary sand slipping under your feet as you hear the aquamarine waves retreat. The salty azure breeze tickles your nostrils and teases your tongue as your lungs fill. You solemnly watch as a honeyed blaze of amber, coral, and shell-pink melts into the cerulean ocean.
It’s truly a visual wonderment, however, that for those who suffer from color vision deficiencies, this breathtaking scene can appear dull and lifeless. And for people who are colorblind – about 32 million Americans – daily life is packed with workarounds and compromises which usually include bringing in a second pair of eyes for everything from wardrobe choices to food safety.
There are three different types of color vision deficiency. A red- green color imperfection is the inability to detect the difference between red and green. A blue and yellow disadvantage means people have a hard time distinguishing blue from green and red from yellow. Then there’s the rare, black-gray-and-white-only, complete color blindness.
There is no cure, but with the help of new websites, smartphone 78 | June 2024
apps, and tinted glasses and contact lenses, the colorblind world
is changing for those who inherited faulty photopigments from a parent or suffered an eye injury or disease. These tools can open doors for people who have been previously shut out of dream jobs such as pilots, surgeons, electricians, and chefs.
And humans are not the only creatures impacted by color vision deficiencies. Your furry friends might not be aware of a rainbow of shades, but they do see some colors. Dogs can see blue-violet and pale-yellow hues. They can also discern different shades of gray fairly well. But they can’t see green, orange, or red, which is something to consider when buying another ball for your favorite pooch. Similar to dogs, cats do see versions of blue and yellow, however, cats can also see green hues. These traits increase your pet’s ability to see extremely well in low light.
Octopi and other cephalopods, however, have a unique visual system and see only in shadows and light. This allows them to accurately deal with their underwater world, meaning a quick darting light is most likely a meal while a large slow shadow means taking cover from a predator.
www.smliving.net | SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living
story by Cherie Ward