Abstract

The development of specific commercial products for each user is a priority course of action for more and more companies in the sports sector. Some of these customized products, as is the case with sports glasses with coloured lenses, offer features that afford greater comfort and/or athletic performance in certain contexts. Nonetheless, the basis of scientific evidence that supports the benefit of these items is unknown. Thus the purpose of this study is to review the published scientific literature that explains the possible benefits that may be entailed by the use of one or another type of coloured lenses in sports glasses. To that end the literature has been reviewed focussing on issues of comfort and visual performance in sport, using scientific documentary databases, websites and rules concerning the use of sports glasses. The main conclusion to be drawn is that the state of the art offers a limited scientific basis to support existing products on the market and to suggest colour lenses for specific sports. It has been established that reaction times and visual skills can be improved through certain coloured filters, but in the event of addressing this line of R&D, it would also be necessary to develop appropriate measurement methods.