Kazuya Sakai, “Integrales II (Edgard Varèse) (1979), presented in normal color (left) and with color blind view conversion by Enchroma (right) (© Kazuya Sakai’s estate; courtesy Galeria Vasari, Buenos Aires and DMA)
Around the world, one in 12 men (8%) and one in 200 women experience red-green colorblindness, more formally known as Color Vision Deficiency (CVD). That’s about 4.5% of the world’s population, or around 350 million people. The Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) is the latest to participate in a new accessibility program that provides CVD alleviation lenses for visitors to borrow for free in an effort to improve their experience of art-viewing.
The technology, which alleviates red-green CVD for about four out of five users with the condition, was developed by EnChroma, an independent company based in Berkeley, California. Usually genetic, red-green CVD is caused by an overlap in the red and green color receptor cones within the eye, causing the hues to become practically indistinguishable.
