Ultimate Player Accidentally Discovers Help for Color Blindness

When borrowing an item at an ultimate game turns into a life enrichment product.

The EnChroma glasses help correct for some forms of mild colorblindness.

Here's the story:
Don McPherson, creator of the glasses, said they are based on a product he designed years ago to protect surgeons' eyes from the lasers they use in the operating room. He found out that the shades were disappearing from the hospital — surgeons liked them, he said, and were taking them home. So he decided to take home a pair, too.

At an Ultimate Frisbee tournament a short time later, a friend (Michael Angell) who is colorblind asked to borrow McPherson’s glasses.

"He said, 'Oh, my God, I can see the cones,' and he was referring to the fluorescent orange marker cones that delineate the perimeter of a playing field," McPherson said. “And I said, 'That's crazy — you can't see the cones normally?' and he said, 'No, the grass and the cones are the same shade of brown.'"

Via Smithsonian Magazine: It wasn't until Angell borrowed his sunglasses at the Frisbee game, however, that McPherson realized they could serve a broader purpose and help those who are colorblind.

Learn more about EnChroma.