Oh…Almost forgot to answer this. I’ve never had a problem with either type of 3D glasses for a movie. I went to a 3D laser show at a planetarium that required glasses once & it didn’t work for me at all. I have no idea why it didn’t, or why movies do. I’d guess that 3D movies work for most color blind people.
From these comments, I would suspect that your color blindness is offset by a much higher than average* sense of humor. Would you agree?
Oh, and thank you as well for a fascinating and funny thread. 
- And that’s in comparison to the average Doper who is already magnitudes ahead of the average person.
Fascinating topic…While researching the life of Joe Haymes, a swing band leader in the 1930s, I learned from his family that he could not see in color at all, to the point that he needed small tags sewn into all his clothes to tell what color they were.
Actually, concerning the sweater knit in 16 different shades, it was in dark browns and purple, not greys.
But I guess it isn’t a big difference if all you are seeing is the shade, not the color.
Hell. I’m as bad as you are. Almost. I can split the first, the color wheel into… black center, white with a tinge of 'hell if I know" at the radius, about three quarters of an inch thick. Blue bottom left, yellow top right, and… IIii dunno, left and right. Think the right may be red. There are three white spokes and three black spokes. Things are more distinct if I run the mouse over them. I’m not just color blind, I have real trouble telling different shades apart if they fade into each other.
On the other hand, re: the Pyramid, I can read Transformer Tech Specs without the red decoder, as well. And I got the same result as you on the number tests.
I feel a bit envious of those people who can see color. I must be missing so much.
Traffic lights aren’t a problem, though. Except for one specific type that were really flat, and I could never tell if they were lit or not.
You said that you’ve seen pictures that are supposed to simulate to people without colorblindness what a colorblind person might see. Do these pictures look normal to you?
The tool at the following link is supposed to do something similar. For you, are one or more of the simulations impossible to distinguish from the normal palette?
Aw, did anyone alswer my questions? (About 10th post in . . . maybe I missed it)
Hi capybara,
See post #20.
Mycroft H., Why thank you very much. It is praise indeed to be regarded as humorous by a Doper compared to Dopers. I’m hanging your post on my fridge and showing all of my friends.
I am still waiting for someone to comment on my love of Venetian cookies though…
E-Sabbath, I’m not sure what to make of you…could you describe what you see in the circle tests that are linked in post #20. Perhaps my one-in-a-million affliction is actually a two-in-a-teeming-millions affliction. I’m curious to hear about what you see.
McFeatherHLF, Ah…the “Does it normal?” question. I have no idea what to base normal color perception on. The answer to your question is that they look different to me too, but those things are designed to show you what a color-blind person sees. In your link, I can best be described as having a protanomaly, devtanomaly and a tritanomaly all wrapped up into one messed up set of eyes. Sadly, there is no device to show what I see. I was able to see a difference in each setting, but I’d be unable to describe what colors are different (that color wheel is too abstract for me.)
How about those supposedly 3-d pictures - can you see the mythical picture jumping out at you? For all my normal colour vision, I have never been able to see a danged thing, no matter how long I stared at them or how crossed I let my eyes get.
(You just got to be impressed by the stuff you learn at SDMB.)
OK, so you are quite a rare bird. Are you now or have you ever took part in any sort of research programs on color blindness? Will color blindness have any long-term impact on your vision as you age.
Have you considered donating your eyes to science when you no longer need them?
Ooops…in post #49 I meant to say “Does it look normal?”
Anyway…featherlou, are you referring to Magic Eye Pictures? I’ve never been able to see one. I’ve met enough normal sighted people who can’t see them, so I don’t know how much being color blind has to do with seeing them.
Paul in Saudi, I was part of some research when I was in High School, through a science teacher, but that was almost 20 years ago. This thread has got me thinking of looking into it again. Any thoughts on where I’d start looking into such a thing?
From what I’ve been told, I shouldn’t suffer any long-term problems due to color blindness. Outside of colors, my vision is actually very good. I’m told I have strong eyes & it’s quite possible that I’ll never need glasses (I know they can’t know that for sure…but it was nice to hear.) So apart from the normal aging process, I shouldn’t have any eyesight issues.
I have an organ-donor card already filled out & it includes my eyes. I don’t know if there is anything documenting my color-blindness in there. I’ll look into it.
The retinas are physically located inside the eyes, but regarding how their tissue functions, they’re “part” of the brain. A whole-eye transplant would most likely clear up the colorblindness issue unless there are parts of the (traditional) brain that are also affected which we don’t yet know about.
I’ve had it explained to me that this is why some migraine sufferers may see “auras” - the migraine is also occurring in the retina. (I suffer from migraines, and I work in an ophthalmology department, but IANAD/N.) I once had an aura without the migraine, and my boss explained that the migraine was confined to the retina in that instance.
Being colorblind shouldn’t affect these in any way. The mechanism by which these work is very simple and only requires that you have two eyes. Once you understand how these work and do it once, you’ll never have trouble with them again.
One of the ways we perceive depth is that when you focus on an object each eye perceives it from a slightly different angle. Try it. Stare at something. Then close one eye. Then open that eye and close the other. You’ll notice it shifts. Each eye sees something slightly different. You’re brain then combines the 2 images and from the disparity between the 2 it can tell you how far away something is.
Pretty simple right?
Now try this. Hold your finger up and focus on it. Again your mind recieves info from each eye and combines it into one, and so you see one image of a finger.
Now, keeping your finger in the same place, focus on something beyond it like the wall. You’ll notice you now see a doubled image of your finger. Because you’re focusing on the wall and not your finger, you’re mind doesn’t combine the 2 images of your finger into one.
What these 3D stereograms do is fool your eyes into thinking that the image in the foreground is what you are focusing on, even though you are looking beyond it.
Try this. Put up both index fingers in front of you but continue staring at the wall. (Now this won’t work perfectly because you’re index fingers aren’t identical).
You now appear to have 4 fingers up. From left to right, let’s number these images 1, 2, 3, and 4. Now, still looking at the wall, bring your fingers closer together such that image 2 overlaps with image 3. Hold your fingers straight up enough so that the overlap is as perfect as possible and then freeze them into that position. At some point it should appear that the 2 images become one solid finger.
It won’t be perfect, but it will if you try it with 2 identical objects like pencils.
This is how those 3D posters work. The 3D image that you are supposed to see is actually there on the 2D surface twice. By looking beyond it you match up the 2 images and WHALA!! It jumps right out.
My son is chromatically challenged, as I like to call it. It’s minor. He has enormous trouble differentiating between secondary colors. Show him green and blue and he’s stuck. Show him rust and blood red, he’s stuck. Show him orange and red, he’s stuck. It came up in Kindergarten during a visual screening done for all students across the boards.
The Nurse showed me a book, printed in Japan, that was used to do the testing. Fascinating things. He did not find a pattern of colored dots that formed a shape or letter when other kids did.
He asks if he is unsure of what shirt goes with what, and I pray most fervently that this will keep him from being drafted. He’s 14 and a half, almost 15. By the time he turns 18, there will be a mandatory draft in this country. I know that certain chromatic challenges keep you from being considered fit. Hope his does.
Cartooniverse
I see a 25 in the upper left. Clear as day. Upper right: Something that could be a 70, maybe. 7) , really. Something 5 in the middle left. I can sort of see the 56 in the right middle. … I got nothing for the lower left. I mean seriously nothing. Like that pink on white for you, I’m unable to read highlighter yellow. Lower right: S, maybe.
Bottom, maybe a 2. The problem is, I’m ‘cheating’. My glasses are 25% gray shaded, which screws with what remains of my normal color vision, but lets me pick up some colors I can’t normally. Without the glasses… I can’t see anything, so no help there. I’m going to toss the gray shade with the next pair, though, I think the shade discrimination isn’t worth the increased darkness.
Cartooniverse: Yeah, that’s my problem exactly. I solved the clothing issue a long time ago. I have three kinds of shirts, two kinds of pants, and suits.
Shirts: Buttondown, T-Shirt, and Polo.
Pants: Jeans, and Chinos.
The T-Shirts go with the jeans, the polo goes with the jeans and chinos, and the buttondown goes with the chinos. There. White sneakers, brown shoes. Doesn’t matter what colors the shirts are, everything goes with them. Suits are limited to white shirts only.
I may never be a fashion plate, but it’ll do, you know?
Actually Color Blind people have an ability to spot camouflaged stuff that Color Seeing people miss. It seems they are not distracted by confusing colors. Still, I bet being CB keeps your son away from active service.
I’m a pilot, and just wanted to nitpick this…
Tower signals are used day or night and need to be distinguishable at any time. Colorblindness may or may not disqulaify you depending upon the severity. Check out this site for the confusing straight dope on the subject…
http://www.leftseat.com/baggish.htm
AFAIK, tower lights are the only tested criteria (they were the only thing that I got tested for), but color perception is important with distinguishing runway vs taxiway lights, VASI indicators, red white and green signal lights on other aircraft, etc.
Pesonally, I think that if someone can’t also reliable distinguish all of these, then they shouldn’t be a pilot.
Actual E-mail sent to the Magic eye company.
I have a simple question. Could being color blind affect one’s
ability to see a stereogram image? I am severely color blind & I have
never been able to see these images, but it’s been recently pointed
out to me by a person who loves to be right that being color blind
should have nothing to do with it. I appreciate any help you can
provide in this matter, especially if it proves that this particular
person is wrong.
Regards,
Andy Polley
Actual reply
Dear Andy
Thank you for taking the time to write to us.
You do not need to see in color to be able to see 3D. You can still see the stereogram in black and white.
Color has nothing to do with the 3D experience of viewing stereograms. Color simply enhances the experience as well as the design of pattern and the hidden image.
For more information on vision, 3D and viewing Magic Eye Images, we recommend you visit www.vision3d.com This site contains information on eyesight, eye exercises, and using Magic Eye images for 3D vision therapy! Much of the information on this site is provided by Dr. Grossman, O.D., L.Ac and Magic Eye Inc.
You may also find Dr Grossman’s website of interest, Vision Works . Vision Works, Inc., provides information on holistic approaches to help preserve and improve vision. Here you can correspond with Dr. Grossman directly!
Your Friends at Magic Eye
Man Moe, Do you ever get tired of being right?