The Great Namazu, Former Japanese Demigod and Present Day Analyst
Greetings Bipeds! As many of you know I've been moonlighting with a cutting edge research company called "Helios Ruehls, Inc." I've shared a few things with you about their project involving the "Fractal Lens" a cutting edge project on the far side of the Eculidian/Newtonian Line (see http://americanadmiraltybooks.blogspot.com/2015/09/namazu-answers-big-questions-chaos-and.html).
As optical physics researchers the Helios Ruehls crew does occasionally get involved in some areas of more general interest. One such area is called their "Yellow Lens Project". Most people would call the optical element examined "sun glasses", but their actual focus is on low light level vision enhancement, which is a far cry, by the way, from "night vision".
As optical physics researchers the Helios Ruehls crew does occasionally get involved in some areas of more general interest. One such area is called their "Yellow Lens Project". Most people would call the optical element examined "sun glasses", but their actual focus is on low light level vision enhancement, which is a far cry, by the way, from "night vision".
The truth is, most people could benefit from the use of tinted lenses
both in bright sunlight and in lower ambient light levels on cloudy
rainy days, and first and last light. If anything can help "at night"
is the controversy that brought the excruciatingly scientifically
correct crowd at Helios Ruehls into the study of existing
authoritative literature and later some physical testing of their own.
Owning a great pair of sunglasses is important for most people
who spend any length of time outdoors routinely. UV rays are the
number one cause of cataracts, macular, degeneration, and skin
cancer around the eyes.
Ask any soldier, police officer, fireman, or outdoors-man, and they'll
tell you how critical it is for them to have a durable pair of glare-
resistant sunglasses...and for them, not just any pair of sunglasses
will do. Observe the marketing appeal from the makers of the Apache
400 "military" style sunglasses below.
400 "military" style sunglasses below.
"They were throwing flash bangs at us to disorient us, but thank god we had the new standard issue Apache 400 sunglasses. We were able to see exactly where we were going and where the enemy was. It's why I'm still here today."
Thankfully, recent military advances in lens technology have taken sunglasses to a new level. Better UV protection and glare resistance in the form of polarized technology have led to sunglasses that are many times better than your everyday sunglasses of yesteryear. But before you run out and buy a new pair, we think you need to hear about the research of Helios Ruehls, Inc. into tinted eye wear lens technology.
You also need to know about tinted lenses generally. The Apache models referred to above sell for between a reported $240 per pair to an occasional $79 or so on sale. Based on their advertising which we link you to, the lenses appear to be available in a sort of yellow /amber tint and a blue tint. We do not sell these things or draw any commission on any sales. We provide some vendor links in this article simply to give you more information and an example of a non prescription/ non custom made product. WE ALSO DON'T RECOMMEND NOR DISPARAGE ANY OF THE "SUNGLASSES" OR TINTED LENSES THAT ARE PRESENTLY ON THE MARKET
Helios Ruehls, Inc. which we are affiliated with, is still studying tinted lenses mostly from a marine navigation and aviation utility angle. They have distributed to a very limited clientele their initial preliminary report. We believe the findings found there are far more reliable than the advertising hype of any tinted eye wear distributors.
Two observations triggered the study of tinted lens performance by Helios Ruehls, Inc. First there was an observable growing popularity in the use of yellow tinted lenses, and a number of manufacturers / distributors were selling such as "night driving glasses". This triggered a complaint by the Federal Trade Commission of "misleading advertising". Second there were glowing reports on the effectiveness of yellow tinted lenses as enhancive of vision in low light levels. The initial research by Helios Ruehls revealed the following that in part explain the apparent contradictions:
1. "Night is a term describing part of the daily earth rotational cycle. It is not a description of any particular ambient light level."The ambient light levels that may be found during the time frame of "night" include brightly lighted ball parks and parking lots, streets with ordinary street lighting, conditions created by the various phases of the moon and available starlight away from urban light sources, to the serious "pitch darkness" of a densely cloudy, moonless night at sea. Helios Ruehls, Inc. found that the Federal Board of Trade's observations about advertising yellow tinted lenses as "night driving glasses" or anything similar indicating that such lenses had any sort of "night vision" quality amounts to a misleading claim is thoroughly correct.
However, Helios Ruehls research also confirmed that varying considerably with the individual user's personal vision physical characteristics, yellow tinted lenses could be a significant aid in visual perception under a wide variety of relatively low ambient light conditions."Night" being a time frame in which a wide variety of ambient light conditions occur, any total formal ban or public avoidance of the use of yellow or amber tinted lenses during the time frame of "night" could be counter productive under a variety of ambient light conditions.
2. Helios Ruehls, Inc. found that the nearly uniform positive reports coming from certain US Air Force populations were indicative of two facts: (1) Yellow tinted lenses more probably than not do provide some visual perception benefit under some circumstances.(2) The reporting Air Force Population mentioned in the authoritative literature reviewed more probably than not represented an unusually uniform population characterized by a relatively narrow and young age band, and an unusually uniform proportion of the population with 20/20 uncorrected vision.
Returning for a moment to the Apache 400 models. These may be ordered in both an apparent ( based on advertising illustrations) yellow/amber tint and a blue tint. Helios Ruehls found that the lighter the yellow tint , the wider variety of low ambient light levels the lens produced vision enhancive effects in. Conversely, the lighter the yellow tint the less benefit that could be derived in relatively bright sunlight. A yellow / amber tint or amber / yellow would fail as low light enhancive in lowering light conditions far sooner than a light yellow tint. However, the more amber the tint, the more utility in bright light. In fact amber and rose tints are often perceived as "color perception enhancive" by many reporting users. Moreover their red elements tend to enhance contrast and enhance depth perception. Amber to brown lenses are good in partly cloudy to sunny conditions. We have not tested the Apache 400 lenses and do not know if their apparent lighter amber tint extends their range of usefulness into lower light levels than conventional amber to brown lenses.
Blue tinted lenses, which the Apache 400 also comes in enhance contours, and colors generally and are considered vision enhancive in misty, foggy or snowy conditions. Our research however was focused on low light level visual enhancement. We could not recommend the Apache 400 eye wear specifically for that purpose. We could not tell from the advertising linked to, whether or not the Apache 400 models could be ordered with distance or astigmatism corrections.
In fact in our search to build and test low light level vision enhancive eye wear we did not find a single mass market product that met all of our criteria, which was based on anticipated military needs as follows:
1. To extend the period of usefulness in low light levels the yellow tint should be as light as possible.
2. The yellow tinted lenses should be polarized, which both sharpened their glare reduction in low light and made them at least somewhat useful when brighter conditions were encountered.
3.The yellow tinted lenses should be impact and shatter resistant to near safety glasses standards, yet lightweight.
4. The yellow tinted polarized lenses should be able to be ground to take most common distance vision and astigmatic corrections, as outside of the military aviation community 20/20 uncorrected vision is not a strict requirement.
When we sought to have glasses made to these specifications in one market (New Orleans) we found that only a small minority of optical dispensing shops, both national chains and local or regional , could produce a pair meeting all of our specifications. The eye wear retailers who could produce our "test glasses" were affiliated with a single international lens manufacturer. Our cost for the lenses alone were in excess of $300.
By contrast grey tinted lenses, polarized, impact resistant, and distant/ astigmatic corrected were commonly available at a wide variety of optical retailers. Grey tints, especially light grey are the best "all purpose" tints for a variety of light levels including cloudy and rainy days. But light yellow, corrected and polarized is the best for the widest variety of low light conditions. Basically a consumer can walk into most optical retailers and order their correction as "grey tinted sunglasses" and come out with a very effective pair of "sun glasses" , depending on correction, thinness of the lens desired, impact resistance specified, frames etc for under $150 to over $300. Unless you have 20/20 uncorrected these will serve you better than the $79 to $240 "military" style "sunglasses". We think if you can benefit from the mass produced higher quality uncorrected lenses in the choice between yellow /amber and blue you will get more usage out of the blue. But the color enhancement, and contrast of those "military" style lenses when slipped over a pair of naturally seeing 20/20 biped eyeballs is truly awesome.
We think the science is probably settled on the various tinted lenses but not very well understood by the marketing departments of much of the retail segment. Everything from light yellow to dark brown is generally marketed under the heading of "sun glasses", a few retailers are trying to market light yellow lenses as "night driving glasses". There is no getting around that any tint once conditions are dark enough obstructs visual perception. The evidence is that the point of no gain varies widely among individuals. We do not agree with any general admonition that light yellow lenses, especially polarized and corrected would not be of visual perception assistance in "night driving" but hold that the effect varies with the level of ambient light and the vision of
the individual user.
If you are a "Sunglasses" or "Night Driving Glasses" manufacturer, retailer, lens producer, or optical dispenser and would like to align your product descriptions, advertising, etc. with the latest copyrighted report by Helios Ruehls write to:
Helios Ruehls, Inc.
951 Marina Drive
Slidell, LA 70452
RE: Yellow Lens Project, Initial Report
Please include your phone and E mail contact information.
Blue tinted lenses, which the Apache 400 also comes in enhance contours, and colors generally and are considered vision enhancive in misty, foggy or snowy conditions. Our research however was focused on low light level visual enhancement. We could not recommend the Apache 400 eye wear specifically for that purpose. We could not tell from the advertising linked to, whether or not the Apache 400 models could be ordered with distance or astigmatism corrections.
In fact in our search to build and test low light level vision enhancive eye wear we did not find a single mass market product that met all of our criteria, which was based on anticipated military needs as follows:
1. To extend the period of usefulness in low light levels the yellow tint should be as light as possible.
2. The yellow tinted lenses should be polarized, which both sharpened their glare reduction in low light and made them at least somewhat useful when brighter conditions were encountered.
3.The yellow tinted lenses should be impact and shatter resistant to near safety glasses standards, yet lightweight.
4. The yellow tinted polarized lenses should be able to be ground to take most common distance vision and astigmatic corrections, as outside of the military aviation community 20/20 uncorrected vision is not a strict requirement.
When we sought to have glasses made to these specifications in one market (New Orleans) we found that only a small minority of optical dispensing shops, both national chains and local or regional , could produce a pair meeting all of our specifications. The eye wear retailers who could produce our "test glasses" were affiliated with a single international lens manufacturer. Our cost for the lenses alone were in excess of $300.
By contrast grey tinted lenses, polarized, impact resistant, and distant/ astigmatic corrected were commonly available at a wide variety of optical retailers. Grey tints, especially light grey are the best "all purpose" tints for a variety of light levels including cloudy and rainy days. But light yellow, corrected and polarized is the best for the widest variety of low light conditions. Basically a consumer can walk into most optical retailers and order their correction as "grey tinted sunglasses" and come out with a very effective pair of "sun glasses" , depending on correction, thinness of the lens desired, impact resistance specified, frames etc for under $150 to over $300. Unless you have 20/20 uncorrected these will serve you better than the $79 to $240 "military" style "sunglasses". We think if you can benefit from the mass produced higher quality uncorrected lenses in the choice between yellow /amber and blue you will get more usage out of the blue. But the color enhancement, and contrast of those "military" style lenses when slipped over a pair of naturally seeing 20/20 biped eyeballs is truly awesome.
We think the science is probably settled on the various tinted lenses but not very well understood by the marketing departments of much of the retail segment. Everything from light yellow to dark brown is generally marketed under the heading of "sun glasses", a few retailers are trying to market light yellow lenses as "night driving glasses". There is no getting around that any tint once conditions are dark enough obstructs visual perception. The evidence is that the point of no gain varies widely among individuals. We do not agree with any general admonition that light yellow lenses, especially polarized and corrected would not be of visual perception assistance in "night driving" but hold that the effect varies with the level of ambient light and the vision of
the individual user.
If you are a "Sunglasses" or "Night Driving Glasses" manufacturer, retailer, lens producer, or optical dispenser and would like to align your product descriptions, advertising, etc. with the latest copyrighted report by Helios Ruehls write to:
Helios Ruehls, Inc.
951 Marina Drive
Slidell, LA 70452
RE: Yellow Lens Project, Initial Report
Please include your phone and E mail contact information.
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