Finally, we have a feel-good story in the news. Meet William Seed, a bodybuilder who has gone all 66 years of his life without seeing color; Seed was born with a rare type of color blindness that only allows him to see in black and white. For his birthday this year, Seed's family knew just what to get him: a pair of EnChroma glasses. They all pitched in to buy the $349 glasses and filmed Seed as he put them on. His reaction is probably one of the purest expressions of shock and awe you’ll see today.
EnChroma glasses are a literal life changer for those born with color blindness. Released in 2012, the glasses allow colorblind individuals to finally see a regular spectrum of colors. According to Technology Review, while the glasses are not a long-term cure or solution, they do boost the saturation of red and green light, which helps improve color vision.
Colorblindness is fairly common in men, affecting as many as 1 in 12. For women, however, the condition is less common, affecting only 1 in 200.
Since the glasses were created five years ago, videos like this one of Seed have become a kind of genre all their own. The reactions to finally being able to see colors in all their vivid glory is always emotional, for both the person experiencing it and those who watch.
