AO HRR Pseudoisochromatic Plates
 Catalogue Number: 3677 AO HRR Pseudoisochromatic Plates Category: Equipment Sub-Category: Colour Vision Test Designer/inventor: HARDY, Le Grand H, RAND, Gertrude, RITTLER, M Catherine Year Of Publication/Manufacture: 1957 Edition: 2 Time Period: 1940 to 1999 Place Of Publication/Manufacture: USA Publisher/Manufacturer: American Optical Co. Description Of Item: Original black board covers, 7 pages of instructions including the score chart, 20 colour plates showing coloured symbols (square, triangle, circle, cross) on a background of grey dots. The colours of the symbols are chosen to be on the achromatic confusion lines of protan, deutan, tritan and so-called tetartan colour vision deficiencies, so particular symbols cannot be seen by those with severe colour vision. The colours increase in saturation so the number of symbols seen is a measure of severity and which symbols are seen is diagnostic of the type (protan, deutan, tritan) of colour vision deficiency. Historical Significance: The American Optical Hardy-Rand-Rittler (AOHRR) pseudoisochromatic plates were first published in the 1955 having been developed from the handmade AO-HRR Polychromatic plates The second edition (1957) was from the same print run (Dain Clin Exp Optom 2004; 87: 276-293) and only the plate order was changed. The test was highly regarded but when the print run was exhausted, American Optical did not invest in the production of another edition, which meant replacing superseded printing inks. Richmond Products have published a replica of the test but copies of the original test are rare. The research on which the test was developed was done at the Knapp Memorial Laboratory of Physiological Optics in the Institute of Ophthalmology of the Presbyterian Hospital and the Department of Ophthalmology at Columbia University, New York. LeGrand Hardy (1895-1954) was Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology at Columbia University. New York and Director of the Knapp Laboratory. Marie Gertrude Rand AB, AM, PhD in psychology (1886-1970) was the first woman to become a Fellow of the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America and was a research associate in the Knapp Laboratory. She was awarded the IES's Gold Medal and the Edgar D. Tillyer Medal of the Optical Society of America in 1959. Catherine Rittler (1926-2008) taught at the Harkness Eye Institute at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons from 1936 to 1971. She helped develop the ruby laser to treat eye disorders. See also Cat. No. 627 How Acquired: Donated by Bay Optical, Ettalong, NSW Date Acquired: 04/02/2019 Condition: Very Good Location: Archive room. West wall. Unit 1 Drawer 1 |