Optical Express creates Ishihara tests of famous faces

Optical Express is celebrating Colour Blind Awareness Day today (6 September) with the creation of four images of famous spectacles wearers in the style of the Ishihara plate test.

Famous faces including Elton John, Iris Apfel, Bono and John Lennon have been hidden in the images, which were first developed in 1917 by Dr Shinobu Ishihara, a professor at the University of Tokyo.

The test is used to identify colour vision deficiency, which affects around three million people in the UK, many of whom are not aware that they are colour blind, according to the multiple.

Clinical services director at Optical Express, Stephen Hannan, said: “Although a harmless condition, we want to raise awareness of just how common colour deficiency can be and stop it being overlooked in schools, the workplace and everyday life.”

Mr Hannan added that an optometrist is able to take a patient through a longer version of the Ishihara test or a colour arrangement task to diagnose the severity of the case.

“As well as diagnosing colour deficiency, our optometrists are able to identify the need to prescribe glasses, contact lenses or make a recommendation relating to refractive surgery, helping improve vision and quality of life for people of all ages,” he shared.

Optical Express explained that the condition is more common in men, affecting around one in 12 men compared to one in 200 women. It is a genetic and hereditary condition passed through the X chromosome.