Background information
Interview with Daniel Lutz: Swiss game developer based in Montreal
by Philipp Rüegg
«The colourblind mode in most games is crap»
23.1.2019
Translation: Eva Francis
Pictures: Thomas Kunz
Colour vision deficiency is much more common with men that it is with women. Some probably don’t even know they’re affected. I talked to Nicolas Franken to find out what this phenomenon is all about, what it's like to live with it and in which ways it makes technical applications and gaming more challenging.
25-year-old Nicolas Franken is a student of Multimedia Production at University of Applied Sciences in Chur and is currently writing his Bachelor thesis. He’s chosen to write about the topic «Colour blindness online».
We meet in our company bar «Pause». It’s decorated with lots of plants and has a jungle vibe about it that makes me feel relaxed and forget about the hustle and bustle of life. The perfect place to talk about the phenomenon of colour blindness.
Tell me, what’s the colour of this table we’re sitting at?
Nicolas Franken: To me, it looks white. At least in those parts that are in the sunlight.
And those that are in the shade?
There, it looks grey. Having said that, the way you’re looking at me tells me it’s probably a shade of green. Maybe mint green?
So Nicolas, when did you realise that colours look different to you than to others?
Until the end of November 2018, I assumed I had a weak red-green visual impairment. My teacher in sixth grade discovered it, as he was explaining the concept of cases in the German language. He used a different colour on the white board for each case. I confused the red with the green one.
*A few weeks after this interview, the HRR (Hardy Rand and Rittler) Standard Pseudoisochromatic revealed that Nicolas has slight to moderate red blindness or protanopia, not deutanopia.
Are there official statistics on the percentage of the population with a colour vision deficiency?
About eight to nine percent of men and less than one percent of women are affected by red-green vision impairment. The reason why it's more common with men is that it's a hereditary and the genetic defect is on the X chromosome. As women have two X chromosomes, a defect on one chromosome is usually compensated by the other one.
What's the effect of this genetic defect on the eye?
We have sensory cells or cones on the retina which enable us to distinguish colours. There are three of these cones; red-sensitive L cones, green-sensitive M cones and blue-sensitive S cones. People with colour vision deficiency have fewer cones than people with unimpaired vision.
You did an apprenticeship in mediamatics. Did your colour vision deficiency cause any problems?
I work with the colours that I like and that look good to me. This has always resulted in harmonious work. So I’ve never had any problems. However, during my training, I decided not to go into web design. With my handicap, what’s the point?
By the way, there are tools that simulate a colour vision deficiency. One of them is available on toptal.com. What surprises me on this page is that when I select the deutanopia filter, there's hardly any difference between the original and the simulated website to me. Therefore, I assume this filter comes pretty close to how I see the world.
What's needed to improve the quality of colourblind modes in games?
A possibility to adjust more settings yourself to make the game suit your personal colour vision. In my opinion, a minimum requirement is being able to choose all team colours. But even if enough settings were available, the question remains whether this would actually help people perform better.
Martin Jud
Senior Editor
martin.jud@digitecgalaxus.chI find my muse in everything. When I don’t, I draw inspiration from daydreaming. After all, if you dream, you don’t sleep through life.
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