0 Comments
By stimulating eye cells, scientists have announced that they have successfully discovered a new colour called ‘olo.’ It has never been seen before by humans.
It might sound like something from a film, but a group of scientists claim to have discovered a new colour that has never been perceived by human eyes before. Yes, really.
This new colour is named ‘olo’ and is being described as a ‘bluish-green with a saturation never seen before.’ The findings were published in the Science Advances journal and could open up new possibilities in both the technology and medical sectors, with great potential for blindness research specifically.
Scientists stimulated specific cells in the retina of the human eye. Participants said they saw the ‘olo’ colour as a result, though some experts have said that the actual existence of a new colour is ‘open to argument.’
As the BBC reports, participating scientist Ren Ng from the University of California described the results as ‘remarkable.’ He also said that ‘olo’ was ‘more saturated than any colour that you can see in the real world.’
The research team was led by Ren Ng, James Fong, and Hannah Doyle. They created a system called ‘Oz’ that altered the way the human eye perceived light and colour.
We usually see colours via signals from three types of cells. These are called cones and they are sensitive to red, green and blue light.
The Oz system activates only one of these types of cones, changing how our bodies interpret the world around us. This is done using mirrors, lasers and optical devices. Keep in mind that this is a phenomena that is not possible in nature.
To confirm which colour was being seen during the experiment, participants adjusted a controllable colour dial until it exactly matched that of ‘olo.’
