Color-Blind Visitors at Tennessee Park Given Special Viewfinder—Until Vandals Destroyed It
The act took place at Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area in Oneida, Tennessee
Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area in Oneida, Tennessee provided colorblind visitors with a unique opportunity to view the fall foliage in all of its vibrant glory, but a recent incident that took place on September 21 has left them without the ability to do so. The installation of a specially designed viewfinder aided those with red-green color blindness, also known as protanopia and protanomaly, allowing them to see the stunning colors of the leaves as someone without color blindness would. However, a recent act of vandalism in which this viewfinder was destroyed has stripped them of the ability to experience such a thing.
“The National Park Service strives to provide opportunities for people to enjoy their park to the greatest extent possible,” said Superintendent Niki Stephanie Nicholas in a press release put out by the National Park Service. “But thanks to an act of sheer, wanton vandalism, visitors with color blindness will no longer be able to experience the joy of seeing the majestic fall colors of this beautiful landscape.”
The viewfinder, which was located at Big South Fork’s East Rim Overlook, was not the only piece of property that was damaged as part of this senseless act. Additionally, a large hole was ripped in the floor of the overlook’s balcony. While the damage has been temporarily repaired, later in the season, it will have to be replaced entirely. If you have any information pertaining to this occurrence, contact the National Park Service at 423-215-9740 or leave a message at the anonymous Resource Protection Tip Line at 423-569-7301.
While this viewfinder’s destruction was tragic, its installation was a step in the right direction as far as inclusion goes, and it was thanks to a partnership between the National Park Service and the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development.
Color blindness across the world
Over 300 million people in the world are colorblind, and according to the National Eye Institute, color vision deficiency tends to run in families and results in difficulty deciphering certain colors, recognizing a color’s brightness or trouble differentiating shades of a color. One of the most common forms of color blindness is red-green color blindness, and the specialized viewfinders in Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area allowed those with red-green color deficiencies to see things differently than they were used to.
How do color blind-aiding glasses work?
There’s a chance you’ve seen one of the countless viral videos floating around the internet over the past few years depicting a color blind person seeing things the way a non-color blind person does with the help of specially designed glasses–but how do these things work?
According to Sharp, “Lenses for color blindness glasses are made with minerals that filter out some of the wavelengths between green and red. A portion of the light rays coming through the lenses are blocked, reducing the overlap of the red and green light wavelengths. This allows the brain to receive a clearer signal to help distinguish between the two colors.”
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