Scientists Claim To Have Found Color No One Has Seen Before

Researchers at UC Berkeley claim to have induced a previously unseen color by using lasers to stimulate only the M cones in the retina, creating a visual experience beyond the natural limits of human perception. Called olo, the color is described as a highly saturated blue-green but is only visible through direct retinal manipulation. The Guardian reports: "We predicted from the beginning that it would look like an unprecedented color signal but we didn't know what the brain would do with it," said Ren Ng, an electrical engineer at the University of California, Berkeley. "It was jaw-dropping. It's incredibly saturated."

The researchers shared an image of a turquoise square to give a sense of the color, which they named olo, but stressed that the hue could only be experienced through laser manipulation of the retina. "There is no way to convey that color in an article or on a monitor," said Austin Roorda, a vision scientist on the team. "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 findings have been published in the journal Science Advances.