Chris Angel and David Blaine make reading cards look easy. It almost seems like they can read right through the cards or have some kind of power that is beyond human skills. It’s an illusion. They are not using any skills what-so-ever. In fact, they are using a tool that ANYONE can use or master in a matter of minutes. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could see every card and every suit in a deck of cards? Have you ever heard of luminous ink? Luminous ink is a type of invisible ink that can be applied on the back of a deck of cards and essentially is completely “invisible” to the naked eye. Even a person with sharp vision will not be able to detect these markings.
However, with simple lenses the markings pop out at you and only you. The lens is a reddish-purple color which allows you to see the markings that are normally invisible to the naked eye. The two main ways people read the markings are luminous ink glasses and luminous ink contact lenses. This article will explain the luminous ink contact lenses. There are 3 factors you must know for the contact lenses; eye color, eye care, and contact lens care.
Luminous ink contact lenses are a special lens with a purple filter built into the clear lens. The lens itself, is the same size as an ordinary contact lens. The filter that enables you to read the markings on cards range anywhere from four millimeters to 9 millimeters. Keep in mind the entire contact lens itself is 13 millimeters. The people with lighter colored eyes (blue and green) will want to go with the four millimeter filter size contact lenses while somebody with darker eyes can get away with wearing 9 mm and 7 mm filter size because the filter will blend in with the darker eyes.
When it comes to eye care, you must use caution! Keep in mind that contact lenses should not be in the eye for more than eight hours. Only put these lenses in your eyes when you perform card tricks. These should not be worn all the time especially because the filter changes the color of your vision to a dark purple. If the contact feels scratchy take the contact out and apply with solution so that your eye is not “bugging” you. These contact lens readers are special, but your eyesight is most important!
Care for your contacts. When you initiate putting the contacts in your eyes you must use contact solution and rub lightly around the contact before putting in your eye. This helps keep the build up of protein deposits from the last time you wore the contacts. When you take the contacts out, you should store the contacts in a case at room temperature and store in solution. This will ensure a long use life for your contacts.
Keep in mind that the three factors of wearing contact solutions for magic card tricks, you must know which size filter fits your eye color, you must care for your eyes, and you must care for the contact lenses.
