Scientists Discover Olo, A New Color No Human Has Seen Before
A group of scientists might have discovered a new color thanks to a unique retina stimulation technique. Using an experimental process that targeted specific photo receptors in the eye, test participants were able to see a color dubbed "olo," which is described as a highly saturated blue-green hue, a color normally beyond the natural range of human visual perception. More importantly, the new stimulation method (called "Oz") has potential applications in studying and treating color blindness and other eye diseases.
Imagine a group of scientists firing lasers into your eyeball and suddenly you see a color you (or any other human) has ever seen before. According to a study (published via Science.org), participants of the test were able to perceive a color that the team calls "olo" Professor Ren Ng of University of California, co-author of the study, said "Let's say you go around your whole life and you see only pink, baby pink, a pastel pink, and then one day you go to the office and someone's wearing a shirt, and it's the most intense baby pink you've ever seen, and they say it's a new color and we call it red."
Using a specially developed rig made out of lasers, mirrors and optical doodads (we strive for technical jargon here at HH), the team of scientists from UC Berkeley and University of Washington were able to selectively stimulate photoreceptors in the retina. As most of us know, our photoreceptors are comprise of rods (used for night or low-light vision) and cones (with three types—long (L), medium (M) and short (S)—that detect visible RGB). Depending on what combination or pattern the cones are activated when subjected to visible light, the brain interprets that information in the form of color and intensity.
By human design, M cannot be activated without activating some combination of L and S cones. However, the scientists behind this study set out to stimulate the M cone only. In order to accomplish this, the team first mapped each participant's retina to locate their L, M, and S cones using adaptive optics optical coherence tomography (AO-OCT), whereby the shape of cells were measured when light was shone on them.
Next, each user was sat in front of a display with a small square in the center. Thanks to the prior mapping of the cones, the M cones in each person could then be stimulated with visible-wavelength laser microdoses. The system, collectively called "Oz" also accounted for micro jitters and movements of the eye to ensure that the laser targeting was on point.
When M cones were stimulated, the color "olo" (a.k.a. "0, 1, 0"), based on the Oz's 3D color map was discovered. The new color is described as a blue-green color with saturation cranked way up.
Moving forward, the scientists believe that Oz, with its capability of mapping and stimulating specific parts of the retina, can be beneficial in studying vision as a whole, especially in the field of ocular diseases or helping people with color blindness see in full color.
