Portable Color Reader

Portable color reader is a device that assists color blind people in determining/identifying the correct color.

Portable color reader is an inexpensive, tiny, and portable device that could be used like any other piece of stationery that has the ability to identify the exact color as a normal visioned person.  Concept of this solution is helping the color blind to know, not to see.  This is because the color blind person can see but just with deficient color vision. 

The solution is made from a printed circuit board and sensor in a compact and portable size that could read and display color it has read in a character which could help all color-blind persons, regardless of the types of color blindness, to know the same exact color of object being viewed.  In addition, it is simple to use, and helps color-blind persons to know what the color is.

The cost of the solution is not high while its benefit is priceless. My goal is to make it as low-cost as possible so that it may be used by everyone, especially color-blind students who could benefit from it while learning, benefiting the adult one in working and living.  

Color blindness is mostly hereditary since birth and there is no cure.  It's a lifelong condition.  It could also occur later by accident or disease.  

Color blindness is a visual impairment caused by abnormalities in the cone cells in the eye.  Most are caused by an inherited gene of the female X chromosome.  Based on my research, there are an estimated 300 million people in the world with color vision deficiency. 1 in 12 men and 1 in 200 women are color blind.  Color blindness is color vision deficiency mostly on red, green, and blue which causes trouble in seeing colors that contain that deficiency spectrum depending on which type of color blindness they have.

 Types of color blindness are divided by the color that is deficient.

• Deutan types have a deficiency in green cones. 
• Protan types have a deficiency in red cones. 
• Tritan types have a deficiency in blue cones. 

Color blind people could see color but different from the normal vision and have difficulty in distinguishing certain colors.

                    Normal Vision

Such color vision deficiency causes limitations on learning, career discrimination, and also the quality of life.  Pupils with the color blind condition have a lot of problems in class and also examination which affects the grade and also mental and confidence. 

Therefore, this solution will solve such color recognition. 

In Thailand, approximately 10% of population has color blindness which is a high rate.  

The color blind students, in particular, should be able to use this gadget to confirm the proper color during the course without having to rely on others.

Only this one device could serve all types of color blindness people.   Then, it is more price efficient than making glasses or contact lenses that have specific filters for each deficiency color.  Existing technology focuses on making products helping color blindness to see the exact color as normal vision.  It doesn't go to the point and helplessness because the color blind has vision and could see and don't want to see the same color as normal one because we see what we see since birth.  The terrible occurs when someone told what we have seen is different.  So, just knowing the same will solve it.  That is the main point of this solution.

Therefore, the project's goal is to develop a new solution that is simple and inexpensive, suitable for all ages, and can be used by all color blindness types, but with a focus on color-blind youngsters, to be used to assist them in their studies, and that will benefit and decrease the impact of color-blind persons in general which improving their quality of life and learning.

I, myself, have a color blindness condition and am a student so I have direct experience on how difficult the young age got while learning at school and so far in the future when they are adults. 

I am also surprised that I have friends at school in the same conditions.  So, I have realized that the number is quite significant. I then researched and found that the statistic of the population of the colorblind is 10% which is quite high.

Therefore, I clearly understand the color blind person’s effect and need.  I, the blue-blind type, used to use glasses for color blindness, it did not work because I could not see the precise color and the lenses of the glasses for the blue color blindness type are very dark blue (only glasses for the red color blindness will be a clear lens) so it looks very strange to wear in the classroom or even in normal life.  It also makes the view of other colors completely distorted because you only see the blue.  Then, it is not practical, uncommon to wear, and very expensive.  So, I built a prototype that could respond to the essential needs and decrease limitations.     

I built a prototype a few years ago.  It was built with simple hardware and programming.  When I point it at an object, the sensor will read the color value and recognize what the color is according to the RGB color codes and display the color of that object in character on a tiny LCD screen. So, I immediately know what color of the object I saw.  It could work as expected but not yet completely work well i.e. it could read the RGB color chart but could not read color on some object surface and has not yet made it into a completely portable device as I think it should be. Need more knowledge and advice from skilled adults.    

Even my prototype could read color and the color blindness knows what the color is but there are some circumstances that will affect the precise of the color reading of the solution i.e. light, object surface and I am too young and not yet have enough knowledge how to fix these factors and develop my solution until complete.  However, it is not far from the goal that I have.