Personalized Simulations of Colour Vision Deficiency

Colour vision deficiency (CVD) affects the everyday lives of a large number of people, but it is difficult for others – even friends and family members – to understand the experience of having CVD. Simulation tools can help provide this experience; however, current simulations are based on general models that have several limitations, and therefore cannot accurately reflect the perceptual capabilities of most individuals with reduced colour vision. To address this problem, we have developed a new simulation approach that is based on a specific empirical model of the actual colour perception abilities of a person with CVD. The resulting simulation is therefore a more exact representation of what a particular person with CVD actually sees. We compared the accuracy of this new technique with that of the existing models, and found that the personalized simulations were significantly more accurate than the old method. The personalized-simulation approach shows great promise for improving understanding of CVD for people with ordinary perceptual abilities.