Skip to main content

These new lenses give you superhuman sight, let you see colors with greater clarity

metamers identical color glasses meta2
Gregory Vershbow
Human beings are pretty darn versatile, but we still have plenty of limitations when it comes to the way we sense the world. Case in point are metamers: colors which appear to our eyes to be identical, but which are actually composed of slightly different wavelengths of light. While sensors can spot metamers with ease, our eyeballs just aren’t fine-tuned enough to spot the difference.

With an eye (no pun intended) on tweaking our abilities, researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison have developed a pair of smart glasses that allows wearers to distinguish metamers, thereby seeing the difference in these colors for the first time.

“The potential uses for the device are really anytime somebody is trying to distinguish similarly colored objects,” Bradley Gundlach, lead student on the project, told Digital Trends. “Therefore camouflage detection, quality control of produce. and detecting counterfeit currency are all possible applications that would benefit from enhanced color perception. It might also be possible in the future to apply the technology to individuals with color deficiencies, restoring some if not all of their color sensitivity compared to typical humans.”

Gregory Vershbow
Gregory Vershbow

The glasses essentially expand the vision of wearers from trichromatic, in which we see three color channels, to tetrachromatic. This would be in line with animals such as goldfish, which are able to see red, blue, green, and ultraviolet light. They contain two color filters (the glasses, that is; not goldfish) which strip specific parts out of blue light spectrum. Because each eye is receiving subtly different spectral data about blue objects, the working hypothesis — proven correct — was that tiny differences in color would appear far more noticeable.

So what’s next for the project? “The current device works by splitting the short wavelength cone in the eye,” Gundlach said. “What this means, practically, is that it only works for splitting mostly blue or violet colored objects. We’re currently working on applying this to the green part of the spectrum, which is much more applicable to most things in nature.”

In other words, put Gundlach, principle investigator Mikhail Kats and others on the case, and we’ll have color-sensitive superpowers in no time. Just don’t call us Goldfish Man!

Editors' Recommendations

Luke Dormehl
I'm a UK-based tech writer covering Cool Tech at Digital Trends. I've also written for Fast Company, Wired, the Guardian…
The Future of Vision: Augmented reality contact lenses will make you bionic
A contact lens from Mojo Vision promises augmented reality

Augmented reality contact lenses have been "around the corner" for years. They're finally set to arrive. Mojo Vision

Technology is reshaping every aspect of our lives. Once a week in The Future of series, we examine innovations in important fields, from farming to transportation, and what they will mean in the years and decades to come. 

Read more
New Perseverance panorama lets you zoom in to see amazing detail
new perseverance image lets you zoom in to see amazing detail stitched panorama

NASA’s Perseverance rover is currently undergoing checks to ensure it’s ready to start exploring its new surroundings on Mars.

But that hasn’t stopped the mission’s team at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California from firing up some of the rover’s many cameras to capture amazing imagery from inside Jezero Crater where it touched down in spectacular fashion last week.

Read more
Amazon’s new AR app lets you have fun with all those Prime Day boxes
amazons new ar app offers interactive fun with its boxes amazon augmented reality

Try a spooktaculAR experience this Halloween

The online shopping frenzy that is Amazon Prime Day is pretty much upon us again, with customers around the world gearing up to splash the cash on all manner of cut-price goodies.

Read more