York student’s idea helps beat vision problem

6:22pm Thursday 27th March 2008

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AN ELECTRONICS student is in the running for a £20,000 prize after helping design a device to help colour-blind people distinguish between shades.

Luke Walsh, 25, of West Moor Lane, York, is a finalist in the first HSBC Unipreneurs Awards, along with business partner and fellow student Luke Jefferson. The awards are designed to recognise Britain's brightest young men and women who are combining their studies with running a successful business.

The pair have designed software which allows a colour-blind person to differentiate between colours. A person who is unable to tell the difference between red and green would normally see those colours on a computer screen in the same shade.

Luke said the software has various applications. At the moment colour blind people may be unable to see various website links or other information because of their colour but the programme, named Huetility, will change that. In addition the mobile phone application could allow a photograph to be taken and then altered to allow it to be seen.

Luke said it could be used in business meetings when flow charts or graphs are presented in colours that some people are unable to see or even used to take photos of pages in a magazine.

Luke said: "We're going to sell it online and through partnerships with opticians. Currently opticians have nothing to offer someone who has been diagnosed as colour-blind. We're hoping that by April 23 we will have the software available to sell."

The company the two Lukes have set up to sell Huetility is called Scratchface.

On April 23 it will vie for first place with four other companies to win the £20,000 first prize. But to do so, the two students will have to convince an audience of 200 experts.

Huw Morgan, HSBC's head of business banking, said: "There is no doubt that a new breed of young businessmen and women are among us. Their academic study has given them an awareness of structure and an appreciation of discipline.

"They have an understanding of business plans and strategic thinking, as well as being creative and enthusiastic.

"We are delighted to sponsor these unique Awards, in association with the NCGE, recognising this new generation of future business leaders and the growing contribution they will continue to make both to their communities and the UK economy."

How it works

The Huetility software allows the user to create a "window" on their computer screen which can then be dragged over an image. The software will then change the colours of that image to shades the user can see.