Researchers at UC Berkeley have developed a groundbreaking platform called “Oz” that can control up to 1,000 photoreceptors in the eye at once, providing new insights into human sight and vision loss. By using tiny doses of laser light, Oz allows people to see a previously unseen color, dubbed “olo,” which is described as blue-green or peacock green.
To achieve this, the researchers first create a map of an individual’s retina, identifying the unique arrangement of S, M, and L cone cells. The Oz system then rapidly scans a laser beam over a small patch of the retina, delivering tiny pulses of energy when it reaches a specific cone cell.
In human experiments, participants were able to describe olo as much more saturated than nearby monochromatic colors. When the laser was jittered off-target, the normal color of the laser appeared yellow due to the stark contrast.
The Oz platform has potential applications in studying eye disease and vision loss, particularly for conditions that involve lost cone cells. Researchers are exploring ways to use Oz to simulate cone loss in healthy subjects and potentially help people with color blindness see all colors of the rainbow or perceive tetrachromatic color.
Furthermore, the study’s findings challenge our understanding of how the brain processes visual information. By manipulating photoreceptors, researchers were able to recreate a normal visual experience, not by casting an image, but by stimulating the cells themselves.
This breakthrough has significant implications for our understanding of human vision and its capabilities, raising questions about whether the brain can adapt to new sensory inputs and appreciate them. The discovery of olo represents a major milestone in the field of visual perception, offering new avenues for research and potential therapeutic applications.
Source: https://news.berkeley.edu/2025/04/22/scientists-trick-the-eye-into-seeing-new-color-olo