New color 'olo' unveiled: A retinal breakthrough revolutionizes vision science
Scientists claim to have discovered a color that no one has seen before. Interestingly, this shade can only be achieved through laser manipulation of the retina. The five people who have seen it described it as blue-green. However, they argue that this description does not fully capture the richness of the experience.
What do you need to know?
- New color: Scientists from the U.S. have discovered a color that can only be perceived through laser manipulation of the retina.
- Research method: The experiment involved using laser pulses to stimulate retinal cells, pushing the boundaries of visual perception.
- Potential applications: A tool named "Oz Vision" could further research on color blindness and vision-affecting diseases, such as retinitis pigmentosa.
According to "The Guardian," a scientific team claims they have "experienced" a color that no one has seen before.
This bold and controversial claim originates from an experiment in which American scientists used laser pulses to stimulate individual retinal cells. As a result, they expanded the boundaries of perception beyond its natural limits.
Describing the color is not simple. The five people who saw it described it as blue-green. However, according to scientists, this description does not fully convey the richness of the experience.
"It was jaw-dropping. It’s incredibly saturated," says Ren Ng, an electrical engineer from the University of California at Berkeley.
Scientists have shared a picture of a turquoise square to give an idea of the color they have named "olo." They emphasized, however, that this shade can only be achieved through laser manipulation of the retina.
Austin Roorda, a vision scientist, pointed out that it is impossible to display this color through a description in an article or on a monitor. The color we see is merely a version of it, but it pales in comparison to the "olo" experience.
Why and how do we see colors?
People perceive colors when light hits the color-sensitive cells called cones in the retina. There are three types of cones that respond to different wavelengths of light: long (L), medium (M), and short (S).
Natural light is a mixture of many wavelengths that stimulate the L, M, and S cones to varying degrees. Red light primarily stimulates L cones, while blue light mainly activates S cones. M cones are in the middle, with no natural light exclusively stimulating them.
The team from Berkeley decided to overcome this limitation. They started by mapping a small portion of the human retina to determine the location of its M cones. Then, a laser scanned the retina, emitting a slight light pulse to stimulate a cell before moving to the next cone.
The result, published in Science Advances, is a patch of color in the field of view about twice the size of a full moon.
The significance of the discovery. Will we see the new color?
Scientists believe that the tool named "Oz Vision" will help explore fundamental scientific questions about how the brain creates the visual perception of the world. Additionally, it may have other applications, such as studying color blindness or vision-affecting diseases like retinitis pigmentosa.
Will the rest of the world ever experience "olo"? Ren Ng explained that this is basic science, and unfortunately, we will not see "olo" on any smartphone display or TV anytime soon. So for now, imagination is all we have.
