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Berkeley, April 19: Is it possible to see a colour that has never existed before? Thanks to groundbreaking research, the answer is yes. Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, have unlocked a new colour, a vibrant hue they have named "olo." This novel colour, described as a "blue-green of unprecedented saturation," was made visible to five human participants through a cutting-edge technique involving retinal stimulation.
The colour defies the natural limits of human vision and opens up new frontiers in visual science. A report published in Science Advances on April 18, 2025, reveals that the team, led by experts at the University of California, Berkeley, devised a method to bypass the natural colour perception process. By using lasers to target specific cells in the retina, they managed to produce olo, a colour that exists outside the conventional visible spectrum.
The breakthrough is more than just a novel hue; it could pave the way for significant advances in the study of eye diseases, colour blindness, and vision disorders, offering a new dimension in our understanding of the human visual system. Pink Moon 2025: Netizens Share Stunning Photos of 'Pink Moon' As April's Full Moon Lights Up Night Sky (See Pics). What is the 'Olo' Colour The "Olo" colour represents a groundbreaking discovery in visual perception.
It was created by stimulating the M cones (sensitive to green) in the retina, which are typically responsive to green light. In natural conditions, M cones are always activated alongside L cones (sensitive to red) and S cones (sensitive to blue), which are sensitive to red and blue wavelengths, respectively. However, the researchers' technique, known as "Oz", selectively targeted and stimulated only the M cones, resulting in a new colour experience that was previously beyond human perception.
Described by those who witnessed it as a saturated blue-green, olo is a colour that exists outside the boundaries of traditional human vision, offering a fresh and vivid visual experience. The process to create olo involved the use of lasers that delivered microdoses of light directly to the retina. By mapping each participant's retina with extraordinary precision, the scientists were able to identify the exact locations of the M cones and stimulate them individually.
This allowed the researchers to generate a pure colour signal from the M cones, bypassing the overlap that typically occurs between the three types of photoreceptor cells. Alien Attack Turned Soviet Soldiers to Stone? CIA Website Reveals Soviet-Era Document Detailing Alleged Attack by Aliens After 'UFO' Was Shot Down. The result was a colour that, according to the study participants, was far more intense than any colour they had ever experienced, almost to the point where it made standard green hues, like those from a laser pointer, appear pale in comparison.
The team dubbed their method "Oz," a nod to the green-tinted glasses from the Wizard of Oz, symbolising the colour manipulation of vision. Although the olo colour is striking and its perception is completely new, it does have limitations in its current form. For example, participants could only experience it through their peripheral vision, as the technology required to stimulate the central vision area, the fovea, is still in development.
Despite these challenges, the Oz technique holds promise for studying vision disorders, such as colour blindness and retinitis pigmentosa, by providing a deeper understanding of how the brain interprets colours and visual stimuli. (The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 19, 2025 05:34 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.
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