I have an abiding interest that people who are living with vision impairment investigate contrast enhancing eye wear, certain specific colors that filter parts of the light spectrum) as part of the assembly of tools for daily living. You can contact us if you want a link to a source. They are not overly expensive, either fit-over or non fit-over. You can even have your prescription ground in a material that has these low vision filters. Email us for the information.
It made a huge difference for me when I tried yellow glasses for the first time, now many years ago. The first comment out of my mouth was that I could see leaves on the trees rather than what I remember describing to ken as a smear of green vegetation. As I wore the yellow glasses more, I realized they helped me in many important ways, not the least of which was distinguishing pavement changes, like curb cuts and driveway dips. I have never stopped wearing the yellow. It is a least favorite personal color, but it right there on my face!
I was a photographer for many years, studying it, teaching it, and exhibiting personal work in the U.S. and Japan. I remember in a landscape photography period in the Pacific Northwest, threading a K2 filter, which was yellow, over my camera lens to assist the exposure of the film to define the clouds better. I am not a science person, but I am just sure the camera eye (sending light to the film) and the human eye (sending light to our brains) respond similarly to yellow filtration! My yellow glasses add contrast, cut glare, and better define what I see.
Other filters besides yellow have a similar effect. One is a darker amber, if the yellow is too bright. There are also orange and plum. Ken and I have observed that the yellow and the orange bring in more information indoors as well as being helpful outdoors for people who have retinal or macular issues. Furthermore, it is almost a given that people who have glaucoma or who are otherwise bothered by (or even in pain from) glare do remarkably well with plum.
People living with vision problems are often at a disadvantage with traditional sunglasses because the dark glasses pull away too much information. Many people, without being conscious of it, stop wearing their dark glasses. If I probe about why one would give up the important ultraviolet ray (UV) protection offered by most reputable makers of dark glasses, I learn that the dark glasses are too dark, and nine times out of ten they are polarized.