Scientists Hack Human Eye to See a Whole New Color, Called "Olo"

In a groundbreaking study published in Science Advances, a team of researchers has successfully created a new color that the human eye has never seen before - called "olo". This revolutionary discovery allows only five people on the planet to witness this extraordinary hue, and it's all thanks to the innovative use of laser pulses to stimulate specific cells in their retinas.

To achieve this feat, the researchers mapped each participant's retinas to pinpoint the location of their M cones, which are responsible for detecting medium wavelengths of light. They then applied these findings in a controlled laboratory setting, where they fired tiny pulses of light into each M cone cell one by one.

The result was nothing short of spectacular - as the cells were lasered into, a magnificent turquoise patch roughly twice the size of a full moon formed in the subject's field of vision. This temporary effect may seem fleeting, but its impact is said to be long-lasting, leaving an indelible impression on those who have witnessed it.

According to study co-author Austin Roorda, a vision scientist at UC Berkeley, "There is no way to convey that color in an article or on a monitor. The whole point is that this is not the color we see, it's just not. The color we see is a version of it, but it absolutely pales by comparison with the experience of olo."

The science behind this phenomenon lies in our perception of color, which is determined by photoreceptor cells in the retina called cones. There are three types of cones: L cones for long wavelengths of light, M cones for medium wavelengths, and S cones for short wavelengths.

L cones pick up red light, M cones detect green light, and S cones respond to blue light. Colors tend to be a blend of these spectrums, and while L cones and S cones can largely be stimulated on their own, that's not the case for M cones; light they react to also activates either the L or S cones as well.

"There's no light in the world that can activate only the M cone cells because, if they are being activated, for sure one or both other types get activated as well," coauthor Ren Ng, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at UC Berkeley, explained to Scientific American. "The researchers found a way to cheat this situation, allowing them to isolate the M cones and create a new color that's impossible to see naturally."

The potential applications of this groundbreaking technology are vast. Researchers hope it could one day be used to create screens that deliver perfect colors tailored to each individual's retinas. It could also potentially let color blind patients see certain colors for the first time, at least temporarily.

However, not everyone is convinced by the significance of this discovery. John Barbur, a professor of optics and visual science at City St George's University in London, told The Guardian that "It is not a new color... it's a more saturated green that can only be produced in a subject with normal red-green chromatic mechanism when the only input comes from M cones."

Manuel Spitschan, a research leader at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Germany who was not involved in the study, praised the research as "a truly groundbreaking advance in the ability to understand the photoreceptor mechanisms underlying color vision". He noted that the technical demands necessary to achieve this were enormous and raised an open question about how this technology could be used in the future.

The story of olo serves as a reminder of the incredible advancements being made in our understanding of the human eye and its incredible capabilities. As researchers continue to push the boundaries of what is possible, we can only imagine the remarkable discoveries that await us in the years to come.