Colorblind People Seeing Fall Colors for the First Time Is So Inspiring
The changing colors of leaves during fall are beautiful: Greens, yellows, and oranges all come together before everything turns brown and the weather gets cold. But for 13 million Americans who are colorblind, they’re not able to see the beauty of autumn — until now.
The Tennessee Department of Tourist Development put in viewers with color-enhancing technology to give those with color blindness the opportunity to see the beauty of Tennessee’s outdoors. The viewers are installed in many locations across the state.
The video above shows colorblind people before and after they look through the finders and see colors for the very first time. One man who is colorblind says: “Everybody at work was saying how pretty the colors are. You don’t know you’re missing it because you never saw it to begin with.” And another adds: “I remember being in like, kindergarten, and having to read the labels on the crayons.”
As you can see by their reactions, they are absolutely amazed by the vibrant hues, and most of them are moved to tears. “I’m glad to have seen it, I just wish I’d seen this all my life,” one man says. “I mean, I really feel like now I know why people come from miles and states around just to see this,” another man says.
The viewers became available to use in 2017 at Ober Gatlinburg in Gatlinburg, Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, and at Westbound Interstate 26 in Tennessee.
One man after seeing color for the first time. (Photo Credit: YouTube)
According to its website, Enchroma, the company that makes the finders, “has been using the latest understandings in color perception neuroscience to help countless people not just see color, but see and understand the world.” Andy Schmeder, the CEO, told 1010 WINS that the company, “applauds the Tennessee Department of Tourism’s initiative in using our lens technology to enable color blind people to enjoy the colorful beauty of the state’s parks.” Schmeder added: “We hope that their example inspires other organizations to endeavor to make more of life’s colorful experiences accessible to the 1 in 12 men and 1 in 200 women who are colorblind.”
Hopefully these viewers will be put in at parks across the country, so everyone can enjoy nature’s beauty.
h/t CBS New York
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