Feeling safe in the dark: Intelligence and information platform for sub-optimal night vision

We are a compassionate and innovative company dedicated to enhancing safety and accessibility for everyone in the dark. Recognizing the challenges faced by individuals with deteriorating night vision, especially those over 60, we strive to create solutions that empower and reassure.

Information platform: objective research on low night vision

Image you were always free to go and travel independently, also at night. And then, at some point, you do realize: it appears really different this time.

You are experiencing real bad night vision, shy to talk about it and one day you decide: “I will refrain from driving in the dark.”

And it makes sense! 1,5 out of four people over 60 years has such bad night vision that after driving in the dark they simply sigh: “I made it again….”. But some didn’t make it.

This is not only a problem when driving a car but also during just walking or biking activities. Simply by not identifying sufficient contrast then and being blinded by approaching lights. Accidents during darkness rise substantially as opposed to daylight time.

Personal experience has led to an extensive search journey to identify effective and workable tools and devices to improve night vision substantially. As results during this period have proven to be quite disappointing we, at Night Vision, are currently in the process of developing proof-of-concept digital night vision glasses providing comfort and good vision in the darkness. The glasses are a combination of technologies addressing the important elements which complicates our life in the dark. And, all this being integrated in rather cool, fashionable eyewear.

Patent application filing is currently under review.

As we are currently executing user tests and trials we will continue to update you on our progress in the next few months!

Mountains with clouds on top of them
Mountains with clouds on top of them

General description of the problem

Low night vision or sub-optimal night vision (or often called ‘night blindness’) is a serious problem for a large number of people over 50, mostly women (recent ANWB report). To be more explicit, in most cases it’s not a disease but just a simple ‘disorder’ for people, though mainly women over 50 without any other serious eye problems complain about this problem. It should be mentioned though that patients with diseases like cataract, glaucoma, macula degeneration etc. are also suffering from bad night vision. However, 1 out of four people over the age of 60 has serious problems seeing in the dark, in general, but especially when driving.

Driving in the dark already reduces vision substantially, but much more for the ‘aging eye’. It gives a blurry vision without good contrast combined with extreme blinding headlights of approaching cars and traffic lights; creating a dangerous situation for traffic participants. In reaction to this phenomenon drivers will reduce their speed, feel in general very unsecure, experience physical discomfort and become subsequently a serious danger, also to other road users.

Existing ‘devices’  like the widely used and advertised yellow glasses are available, but they do not offer serious better vision, according to most users but confirmed by Harvard Medical School*. Also, just a few products of brand name hightech glasses manufacturers are being offered through opticians but they still lack sufficient vision in the dark. All this has been tested and tried by relevant test groups.

Research being done recently in the USA and Israel (where quite some high tech innovative visual devices are being developed that serve the defense industry) have regretfully not (yet) led to a solution either. In the meantime we are facing a growing population that is getting older in good health and will be driving far into their eighties. And, as a consequence, more accidents with cars during the dark hours unfortunately. 

* Yellow Night-Driving Glasses: Do They Really Work? – Optics Mag (Abstract Harvard Medical School)

Low vision in the dark is characterized by these explicit features: blurry and unsharp vision where dark is really very dark and simultaneously blinding with halos from several light sources

Low night vision or sub-optimal night vision (or often called ‘night blindness’) is a serious problem for a large number of people over 50, mostly women (recent ANWB report). To be more explicit, in most cases it’s not a disease but just a simple ‘disorder’ for people, though mainly women over 50 without any other serious eye problems complain about this problem. It should be mentioned though that patients with diseases like cataract, glaucoma, macula degeneration etc. are also suffering from bad night vision. However, 1 out of four people over the age of 60 has serious problems seeing in the dark, in general, but especially when driving.

Driving in the dark already reduces vision substantially, but much more for the ‘aging eye’. It gives a blurry vision without good contrast combined with extreme blinding headlights of approaching cars and traffic lights; creating a dangerous situation for traffic participants. In reaction to this phenomenon drivers will reduce their speed, feel in general very unsecure, experience physical discomfort and become subsequently a serious danger, also to other road users.

Existing ‘devices’  like the widely used and advertised yellow glasses are available, but they do not offer serious better vision, according to most users but confirmed by Harvard Medical School*. Also, just a few products of brand name hightech glasses manufacturers are being offered through opticians but they still lack sufficient vision in the dark. All this has been tested and tried by relevant test groups.

Research being done recently in the USA and Israel (where quite some high tech innovative visual devices are being developed that serve the defense industry) have regretfully not (yet) led to a solution either. In the meantime we are facing a growing population that is getting older in good health and will be driving far into their eighties. And, as a consequence, more accidents with cars during the dark hours unfortunately. 

* Yellow Night-Driving Glasses: Do They Really Work? – Optics Mag (Abstract Harvard Medical School)

Low vision in the dark is characterized by these explicit features: blurry and unsharp vision where dark is really very dark and simultaneously blinding with halos from several light sources
Mountains with clouds on top of them
Mountains with clouds on top of them
What are people with bad night vision experiencing in the darkness?

In a dark setting, your eyes like to gather as much light as possible. They do this by opening the pupils wide and allowing your eyes to catch as many rough outlines and shapes as they can. In a brighter setting your pupils shrink back down, since they have all the light they need to see comfortably.

There are millions of rod-shaped and cone-shaped cells along every eye’s retina. These rods and cones are necessary for eyesight.

Rods and cones (as photoreceptor cells) each react a little differently to varying types of light. When the right light strikes them, they send tiny impulses along the optic nerve and into the back of the brain. This is how vision happens.

While cones are great at registering bright lights, colors and fine details, they’re not so useful for helping you to see in the dark — that’s where your rods come in.

Rods excel in peripheral vision and are much more sensitive to light photons, which makes them extremely helpful in low-light settings. Without rods scattered across the retinas, any sort of darkness would be virtually blinding. But there’s a catch: rods can’t process color. This is why your night vision usually isn’t very colorful and often seems to be in black and white.

LUMIvision characteristics

The company NightVision is working on a product called LUMIvision. This is fashionable Augmented Reality (AR) supported eye wear that not only helps those with serious bad night vision but it also enhances the night time experience in various scenarios, such as driving, walking, or any other outdoor activities during low-light conditions.

Vision Enhancement

Creating better visibility during the dark hours.

Comfort & Wearability

User friendly

Durable and sustainable

Fashionable Eyewear

The Night Vision Team

Founder and MD – Arianne Leuftink

Founder and day-to-day operational and organizational responsibilities for NightVision. Background in private equity investing and coaching entrepreneurs in their start-up journey; linking all the pins together.

Marketing – Daan

Product Management – Ronald

Technology – Marcela

Senior Software Architect- Alex

Financial – Martijn

Legal – Marinus – Martijn

Contact

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© 2023 Night Vision BV. All rights reserved.

info@nightvision.nu - tel. (+31) 6 54717082

© 2023 Night Vision BV. All rights reserved.

info@nightvision.nu
tel. (+31) 6 54717082

© 2023 Night Vision BV. All rights reserved.

info@nightvision.nu
tel. (+31) 6 54717082