ColorAptitude™ builds on decades of colour science research. Below you will find the primary sources, organised by theme, with a brief explanation of how each source is incorporated in the platform.
Error formula & norming
Farnsworth, D. (1957)
The Farnsworth-Munsell 100-Hue and Dichotomous Tests for Color Vision
Journal of the Optical Society of America, 47(10), 943–947
Application in ColorAptitude™: Basis for the error formula in ordering assessments (TES calculation).
Kinnear, P. R. & Sahraie, A. (2002)
New Farnsworth-Munsell 100 hue test norms of normal observers for each year of age 5–22 and for age decades 30–70
British Journal of Ophthalmology, 86(12), 1408–1411
Application in ColorAptitude™: Age norms and √TES transformation for norm comparison.
Verriest, G., Van Laethem, J. & Uvijls, A. (1982)
A new assessment of the normal ranges of the Farnsworth-Munsell 100-Hue test scores
American Journal of Ophthalmology, 93(5), 635–642
Application in ColorAptitude™: Historical norm data for cross-validation of reference groups.
Age & individual variation
Paramei, G. V. & Oakley, B. (2014)
Variation of color discrimination across the life span
Journal of the Optical Society of America A, 31(4), A375–A384
Application in ColorAptitude™: Age-related decline curves and tritan vulnerability.
Shi, L., Luo, M. R., Rider, A. T. & Stockman, A. (2023)
Individual colour matching functions and their variation with age and field size
Vision Research, 212, 108292
Application in ColorAptitude™: Lens yellowing and individual CMF deviations relative to the CIE 2006 standard observer.
Colour space & colorimetry
Ottosson, B. (2020)
A perceptual color space for image processing — Oklab
Blog post / technical specification
Application in ColorAptitude™: OKLCH colour space for stimulus generation with perceptual uniformity.
Sharma, G., Wu, W. & Dalal, E. N. (2005)
The CIEDE2000 color-difference formula: implementation notes, supplementary test data, and mathematical observations
Color Research & Application, 30(1), 21–30
Application in ColorAptitude™: CIEDE2000 formula for measuring inter-stimulus distances.
Categorical colour perception & communication
Pilling, M., Wiggett, A., Özgen, E. & Davies, I. R. L. (2003)
Is color 'categorical perception' really perceptual?
Memory & Cognition, 31(4), 538–551
Application in ColorAptitude™: Categorical colour perception research; conceptual basis for the communication competency layer. The Communication Exercise scoring itself follows Lin, Luo, MacDonald & Tarrant (2001a/b/c) and Berlin & Kay (1969).
ASTM standard & qualification protocol
ASTM International (2016)
ASTM E1499-16: Standard Guide for Selection, Evaluation, and Training of Observers
ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA
Application in ColorAptitude™: Design framework for the entire platform: §6.3.2 (Triangle Test), §6.4 (Magnitude Scaling), §7.1.1 (Warmup), §8.1.1 (Session limits), §5.3 (Calibration warning).
Digital colour assessments
Seshadri, J. et al. (2005)
Evaluation of the web-based colour assessment and diagnosis (CAD) test
Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics, 25(6), 480–489
Application in ColorAptitude™: Validation model for digital colour perception tests.
He, J., Bex, P. & Skerswetat, J. (2023)
FInD Colour Test: rapid machine-learning classification of colour vision deficiency
Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics, 43(6), 1347–1356
Application in ColorAptitude™: Modern reference for rapid CVD classification.
Hovis, J. K., Dolman, C. L. & Neumann, E. (1992)
Clinical assessment of colour discrimination loss by a chromatic threshold test
Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, 33(11), 3093–3100
Application in ColorAptitude™: Warmup observation and threshold measurement rationale.
Competency model
National Research Council (1981)
Procedures for Testing Color Vision: Report of Working Group 41
National Academy Press, Washington DC
Application in ColorAptitude™: Basis for the three-layer competency model: discrimination → attribution → communication.
Kotterink, M. (2026)
A digital platform for professional colour competency assessment
ColorAptitude™ foundational paper
Application in ColorAptitude™: Platform-specific definition of the 3×3 competency framework.