Scientists In Washington And California Discover 'New Color'

Scientists in Washington and California say they’ve found a “new color,” and it sounds like the kind of thing you’d roll your eyes at until you hear what it actually does to your eyes.

Here’s the complicated part: most color works because your cone cells overlap, so when light hits your green-tuned M cones, it usually drags the blue-tuned S cones and red-tuned L cones along for the ride. The team’s Oz method bypasses that overlap by sending light straight to individual cone types in the retina, so volunteers weren’t seeing a familiar green or blue. They were seeing olo.

Only five people have glimpsed olo, and UC Berkeley co-author Ren Ng called it “breathtaking,” which is the kind of reaction you don’t forget.

“It was breathtaking.”

The trick behind olo is an Oz method. Instead of relying on filters or screens, Oz sends light directly to individual cells in your retina. In simple terms, each of us has three types of cone cells—in neuroscience shorthand, S, M, and L cones—that respond primarily to short (blue), medium (green), and long (red) wavelengths.

Under normal circumstances, any beam of light that triggers your M cones (the ones tuned mostly to green) will also affect its neighbors, your L and S cones, because their sensitivity curves overlap.

With Oz, however, the team could isolate stimulation of the M cones alone. When they did, the volunteers saw no familiar green or blue; they saw olo.

Only five people have glimpsed the color, and no existing shade comes close. During a BBC News interview, Professor Ren Ng from UC Berkeley, one of the study’s co-authors, recalled his reaction when he first saw olo himself: “It was breathtaking,” he said.

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That “breathtaking” moment from Ren Ng is what makes the whole olo claim feel less like a gimmick and more like a real visual glitch in the best way.

Beyond the novelty factor, the researchers think olo could open new paths in vision science. Their paper, published last Friday in Science Advances, points out that because olo bypasses the usual cone overlap, it offers a unique window into how color perception works.

They’re especially excited about the possibility of using Oz to explore color blindness. If you can control each cone type independently, you might be able to craft stimuli that compensate for missing or malfunctioning cones in people with congenital color deficiencies.

Imagine a device that fine-tunes light so that someone with red-green color blindness can perceive shades they’ve never experienced. The team has that kind of long-term goal in mind.

They’re already planning follow-up experiments to see how people with different types of color vision, normal trichromatic vision versus various forms of color deficiency, respond to olo and similar stimuli.

Exploring what drives our perception can lead to exciting applications in art, design, and even therapy, suggesting that engaging with color in innovative ways could enhance emotional well-being.

"Researchers say they’ve discovered a new color called 'olo' - similar to a peacock blue."

Once you realize Oz can isolate M cones without the usual S and L overlap, it stops being just a cool BBC interview story and starts sounding like a tool.

This “new color” trick sounds like familiar inventions that became popular for reasons no one expected.

The researchers’ next target is right there in the details, using Oz to test how people with different color vision, including red-green color deficiency, respond to olo-like stimuli.

So, what does olo look like? So far, descriptions have stuck to “blue-green,” but that barely scratches the surface.

One participant compared it to ocean water under a midday sun, only more intense, as if the water itself were glowing. Another said it felt like the moment just before dawn, when the sky is still sleeping but hints at a new day.

Yet you can’t blend olo by mixing blues and greens in Photoshop. It’s not just a new point in RGB space; it’s an entirely new dimension of color.

This discovery also raises philosophical questions about perception. Is color a property of light wavelengths, or is it something our brains construct based on patterns of neural signals?

We still don’t fully understand how our visual system interprets the world. If you can create a color outside everyone’s standard gamut, what else might be hiding in the gaps of our perception? For now, olo remains a laboratory curiosity.

And if those follow-up experiments go the way they’re hoping, the “new color” could eventually become a way to fine-tune light for people who have never experienced certain shades.

The recent discovery of a 'new color' in Washington and California not only captivates the imagination but also opens up important avenues for education. Understanding how we perceive this new color can significantly enhance educational methods. Incorporating color theory into curricula could be transformative, fostering creativity and critical thinking among students.

Engaging students in hands-on activities that involve color mixing and perception can help them grasp complex scientific concepts. This experiential learning approach not only solidifies their understanding but also instills a deeper appreciation for the sciences.

Moreover, discussions around color perception can sharpen students' observational skills and inspire a spirit of scientific inquiry. This engagement is vital for nurturing the next generation of innovators and thinkers, as they explore the wonders of color and its implications in various fields.

Psychologists and educators stress the importance of integrating such discoveries into our learning environments.

By promoting curiosity and experimentation with color, we can enrich educational experiences and inspire future generations of innovators. Engaging with color not only enhances cognitive skills but can also foster emotional connections, paving the way for a more vibrant understanding of our world.

Five people saw olo, and now everyone’s wondering what color your eyes are missing.

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