Scientists hijacked the human eye to get it to see a brand-new color. It's called 'olo.' [View all]

By Nicoletta Lanese published 4 hours ago

Using an experimental technique called "Oz," researchers stimulated the human retina such that people saw a brand-new color.



An illustration of colorful lines converging to make the shape of a human iris and pupil
In a study, scientists used a new way of displaying color imagery to push the boundaries of human vision. (Image credit: blackdovfx via Getty Images)


Scientists have devised a method to hijack the human eye, enabling it to see brand-new colors that lie beyond the scope of natural human vision.

With this technique, the researchers enabled five people to see a new color, dubbed "olo," which the study participants described as a "blue-green of unprecedented saturation." The researchers, some of whom participated in the experiment themselves, described their technique and the new color in a study published Friday (April 18) in the journal Science Advances.

"The ultimate goal is to provide programmable control over every photoreceptor [light-sensing cell] in the retina," primarily for research purposes, said co-first author James Fong, a doctoral student in computer science at the University of California, Berkeley. "Although this has not been achieved to that level, the method we present in the current study demonstrates that a lot of the key principles are possible in practice," Fong told Live Science in an email.

Controlling the retina at this granular level could open up new ways of studying vision, the researchers said. For instance, scientists could use the system to replicate the effects of different eye diseases to better understand the vision loss they trigger. In theory, the technique could also be used to simulate full-color vision in people who are color-blind, essentially compensating for their missing or defective photoreceptors.b

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https://www.livescience.com/health/neuroscience/scientists-hijacked-the-human-eye-to-get-it-to-see-a-brand-new-color-its-called-olo