Color Blind man sees true color spectrum for the first time with EnChroma Glasses

It may have been a dreary day outside, we were even locked out of the Henry Clay Estates Gardens where we met at, but for Tim Yessin the future never looked brighter.

Yessin doesn’t normally wear glasses, but says he’ll be wearing these new EnChroma glasses from here on out.

He says, “And the reds, the reds, are definitely more red. There’s more red, more green which red green is what I was color blind with.”

Red-green color blindness is something he’s dealt with since third grade, along with his father and three brothers. And it’s something 1 in 12 men experience everyday.

Since first launching in 2012, EnChroma has sold more than 25,000 pairs of glasses.

ABC 36 spoke to the company’s CEO Andrew Schmeder via Skype who says he could be reaching far more.

Schmeder says there are “an estimated 13-14 million men in America that have color blindness that could benefit from this and we’ve really only reached a fraction of them so far.”

The glasses help filter out the wavelengths of light where the eye’s green and red color cones overlap.

“Imagine tuning the radio and you’re kind of hearing the channel next door. So imagine like a special filter you can put on that will block or knock out the bleed over that’s occurring.”

And for Yessin, that means new colors are also coming into focus.

Yessin says pointing to a purple flower, “But now when I look at the flower, look at a purple flower, it’s got this red that just jumps out at you. It’s a new color for me. I’ve got to re-learn it.”

Yessin say’s it’s hard to put into words, but it makes a world of difference

“You can see everything now. It just kinda…God it’s amazing. I’m not going to take these off. But it is neat to go down…” as he plays with taking the glasses on and off.

Since late last year the company is now able to accommodate prescription orders. Besides in California, it’s sales are mainly online but they are planning to expand to other eye-wear retailers across the country later this year.

If you’re interested there is a test you can take to see if they’ll work for you.