Colour vision standards: Past, present, and future

Abstract

Historically, signal lights (red-green-amber) were used in shipping, rail, and road transportation. This colour schema continued in the aviation industry too. However, automation has taken over aviation sector with electronic maps and colour-coded multifunction displays. Despite sweeping changes seen in the use of colour coding in aviation, there is little change in colour vision standards and in the way colour vision testing is done for the aircrew, military and civil. The changing needs of aviation dictate that renewing the standards is necessary. Furthermore, the new standards will dictate aircraft design, and hence, it is mandatory that they remain current for the next 50 years or so. It becomes necessary to understand the role colour vision plays in the modern cockpit and suggest the colour vision standards accordingly. In the same breath, it is important to understand the evolution of colour vision testing and colour theories, so as to develop or adopt a more suitable test for the changing aviation scenario.