People with photosensitive epilepsy may soon be able to watch TV worry-free. British scientists have created glasses that can block specific wavelengths of light known to cause seizures.

It is estimated that approximately one in 4,000 people suffer from photosensitive epilepsy and, as the name suggests, their seizures are triggered by light. Flashing and alternating patterns, such as those in clubs, emergency vehicles, television, movies and video games, can all be triggers if they have the right combination of brightness, frequency and flash length. wave.

Now scientists from the Universities of Glasgow and Birmingham have developed a pair of glasses which could help reduce the risk. The lenses are designed to block almost all light with wavelengths between 660 and 720 nanometers – a region of red light involved in infamous Pokémon incident in 1997, which triggered seizures in hundreds of viewers.

These lenses contain liquid crystals that change their optical properties in response to heat. In this case, the glasses frame has a small circuit that heats the lenses up to 36.5°C (97.7°F), causing them to reflect those particular wavelengths of red light.

The idea is that people could wear them most of the time with normal vision, but could turn them on when they want to watch TV or play video games without worrying about having a reaction.

Previous studies used colored lenses to achieve a similar effect, but these only filtered out about 50% of the targeted red light. Additionally, they do not turn on and off, thus affecting the wearer’s color vision in all situations rather than just those with a high risk of seizures.

In their current form, the glasses can only work in environments up to 26°C (78.8°F), so this is something the team plans to continue working on. Additionally, they want to reduce the time required for their activation.

The research was published in the journal Cellular Reports Physical Sciences.

Source: University of Birmingham