The Science of Zebra
Your newborn sees the world in a blur. Zebra is designed to stand out.
Bold black-and-white clothing for parents and little ones, designed by a biotech professor and an optometrist for their daughter, Mila.
See what your baby sees
Approximate simulation of one of our designs seen from about 30 cm (in-arms distance), based on published infant visual acuity and contrast sensitivity data. Top: Zebra black-and-white print. Bottom: the same design in pastels. Every baby is different; this is an illustration, not a vision test.
What the research says
Blurry at birth
A newborn's visual acuity is roughly 1 cycle per degree, about 1/30 of an adult's. Fine detail is invisible; big, bold shapes are not.1
Low contrast is hard to see
Newborns need a pattern to have around 50% contrast before they can detect it. Adults can see contrast below 1%. Soft pastels can simply fade into the background.2,3,4
Babies look longer at patterns
Classic "preferential looking" studies found that newborns look longer at patterned, high-contrast targets than at plain ones.5
It changes fast
Contrast sensitivity improves dramatically between about 4 and 9 weeks, and sharpness keeps improving through the first year.1,4,6 High contrast matters most in the early months.
Why we put it on clothing
For a new baby, the most interesting thing in the room is you. Feeds, cuddles, burping and tummy time put your chest right in your baby's line of sight, at just the distance they see best. A bold black-and-white pattern there gives them something they can actually see while you're face to face.
We're scientists, so we'll be straight with you: no T-shirt can promise to make a baby smarter or speed up development. What Zebra offers is simpler: a design made for how young babies see, and one more reason to look at each other.
Meet the scientists
Tim is a biotech professor and the host of the In Vivo Podcast. Lena is an optometrist. When their daughter Mila was born in 2020, they noticed how she locked on to high-contrast flashcards and books, and wondered why that look had to stop at the nursery. Zebra brought it from flashcards to fashion: 100% cotton, printed in small batches in the US and Canada with water-based inks.
Questions parents ask
- Will this make my baby smarter?
- No clothing can promise that, and we won't claim it. Babies tend to look longer at high-contrast patterns, so Zebra gives them something engaging to look at while you're together.
- What age is high contrast most noticeable?
- The first few months, when vision is blurriest and contrast sensitivity is lowest. Older babies and kids just enjoy the designs.
- Why do parents wear it, not just babies?
- Your baby spends a lot of time looking at you. A shirt on your chest sits right where they look; a bodysuit on the baby is fun for siblings and visitors. Our Matching Sets do both.
- What is it made of?
- 100% cotton tees and bodysuits, printed to order with water-based inks. See our size guide and care instructions.
References
- Leat SJ, Yadav NK, Irving EL. Development of visual acuity and contrast sensitivity in children. Journal of Optometry 2009;2(1):19-26. Link
- Brown AM, Lindsey DT, Cammenga JG, Giannone PJ, Stenger MR. The contrast sensitivity of the newborn human infant. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science 2015;56(1):625-632. Link
- Brown AM, Opoku FO, Stenger MR. Neonatal contrast sensitivity and visual acuity: basic psychophysics. Translational Vision Science & Technology 2018;7(3):18. Link
- Norcia AM, Tyler CW, Hamer RD. Development of contrast sensitivity in the human infant. Vision Research 1990;30(10):1475-1486. Link
- Fantz RL. Pattern vision in newborn infants. Science 1963;140(3564):296-297.
- Braddick O, Atkinson J. Development of human visual function. Vision Research 2011;51(13):1588-1609. Link