Naked Science Forum
General Science => General Science => Topic started by: katieHaylor on 08/06/2018 16:00:58
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Mark asks:
Are there filters/glasses that allow kids to experience black and white vision?
What do you think?
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I don't think it is possible to construct any sort of filter that would render a color image into black and white (white is a mixture of multiple visible frequencies of light--you need to have all of them together to be white, but each on their own is a color, so you can't only allow all of them, but not each of them). You could fairly easily select filters that allow the wearer to see only one frequency of light, and black (the absence of light)--so, yellow and and black or green and black, or red and black, or blue and black, or orange and black (but no magenta and black, unfortunately, as magenta is a mix of colors as well).
One can use a camera with a digital display (in a smartphone or not), set to black and white. This is not a cheap option, but most people have access to one (at least around where I am), and once you have it, it's free!
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Are there filters/glasses that allow kids to experience black and white vision?
Saturated colors would be close to monochrome, but not black & white ...
(https://d2qwzu24wcp0pu.cloudfront.net/sciencemuseum/product/74cac476.309301_s_3.jpg/2000x2000.fit.309301_s_3.jpg)
Low light vision is monochrome ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotopic_vision
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A very narrow band filter would make the world look like it was all 1 colour.
If you wore glasses with that filter in then, after a while, the brain would try to "compensate" for the lack of other colours. and things will look "monochrome".
It's like looking at things by old fashioned street lighting that used low pressure sodium lighting.
After a while it stops looking yellow.
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For passive systems:
The use of dark sunglasses would likely push the eyes to use more rods and fewer cones, and thus give the effect of black and white vision.
One could also likely design contact lenses that would block light coming into the forvea where most of the cones are located, and force one to use peripheral vision with more rods and fewer cones. Of course, contact lenses might not be best for kids.
For active systems:
It wouldn't take much to build a new 3-D camera system that would take an image in, and convert it to black and white. I think all the systems are basically available, and perhaps just would need the software written.
Are they colorizing IR systems yet, or are they basically projected in black and white (or green)? That might be fun for kids. Lights out, and use active IR scanning (or passive).
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Photographers wishing to see how a scene will appear in greyscale / B&W will look through a red filter (clear red plastic). Although it is not greyscale it does show how tones and shapes look without the various natural colours.