“Only Five People on Earth Have Seen This New Color”: Witness the Unimaginable Hue Astonishing the World

Imagine a color so extraordinary that it eludes the natural spectrum visible to the human eye. In a groundbreaking achievement, researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, have unveiled a new color, observed by only five people, through an innovative technology called Oz. This color, named olo, is described as a “blue-green of unprecedented saturation,” surpassing the intensity of a laser. This discovery pushes the boundaries of human perception, offering a glimpse into a previously unseen world of colors.

A Color Beyond the Human Spectrum

The human eye perceives color through three types of photoreceptor cells known as cones, located in the retina: S cones, sensitive to short wavelengths (blue); M cones, sensitive to medium wavelengths (green); and L cones, sensitive to long wavelengths (red). These cones work in combination to create the myriad of colors we can see. However, in natural conditions, it is impossible to activate just one type of cone without simultaneously stimulating the others, due to their overlapping sensitivity spectra.

The researchers at Berkeley aimed to challenge this limitation by asking: What if we could precisely target one type of cone? What new colors might we see? This question led to the development of their revolutionary experiment, seeking to unlock new realms of color perception by isolating individual cone activation.

The Oz Project: A Technological Marvel

The answer emerged from an experimental system as bold as it is complex, named Oz, a nod to the iconic green glasses from “The Wizard of Oz” that altered perception in the Emerald City. Oz employs a highly accurate retinal mapping system, combined with targeted micro-lasers, to stimulate only one type of cone, excluding all others.

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To achieve this, researchers first captured detailed retinal videos of each participant, utilizing an advanced imaging technique known as adaptive optics optical coherence tomography (AO-OCT). This allowed them to pinpoint the exact locations of the L, M, and S cones on each individual’s retina, a unique arrangement for every person.

With this mapping, Oz could deliver ultra-localized light pulses to the M cones only, keeping the others in darkness. The result was a novel visual experience: a color unknown and indescribable with conventional language.

Welcome, Olo

The new color was named olo, reflecting its coordinates in a three-dimensional color space: (0,1,0), where only the M cones are activated. The name also hints at its otherworldly beauty and strangeness. According to participant accounts, olo lies somewhere between blue and green but with an almost unreal intensity.

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“Imagine the light of a green laser pointer… then ramp up the saturation to the point where the laser seems dull in comparison,” explained James Fong, co-author of the study and a Ph.D. candidate in computer science at UC Berkeley. What makes olo remarkable is not just its color—it is the fact that it did not exist in any known human perception before this experiment. It is not a mix of wavelengths but a targeted hack of the neural code that allows the brain to interpret light.

A Window into Tetrachromacy, and Beyond

This feat, reported in Science Advances, opens up a range of fascinating possibilities. Primarily, it could revolutionize our understanding of vision by simulating or bypassing the natural limits of our visual system, allowing researchers to explore uncharted territories of perception. The ultimate goal? “Programmable control of every photoreceptor in the retina,” according to the authors.

Oz could also serve as a colorblindness simulator or, even better, enable some individuals to discover a new dimension of colors by compensating for the absence or dysfunction of certain cones. In the long term, the technology might even be used to study or replicate tetrachromacy, the rare ability some women have to perceive a fourth range of colors due to a fourth type of cone.

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Limits and Future Prospects

Currently, the experiment remains highly experimental: participants had to fixate on a slightly off-center point for the laser to reach the correct part of the retina—since at the center, the cones are too small to be precisely targeted. Moreover, only a small portion of the retina was mapped.

Expanding this mapping and enabling users to move their eyes freely represents a major technical challenge that the team is now striving to overcome. As for the possibility of seeing olo on our phone or TV screens? “Highly unlikely,” says James Fong. The system currently relies on high-precision laser optics, far beyond the capabilities of consumer devices.

Yet, this does not diminish the scope of the achievement: the researchers have demonstrated that our perceptual limits are not fixed. With a bit of ingenuity, even our most fundamental senses can be transcended. What other hidden dimensions of perception are waiting to be discovered?

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