A team of US scientists claims to have discovered a colour that no human has ever seen before, dubbed “olo”. The colour was created by stimulating individual cells in the retina with laser pulses, pushing perception beyond natural limits. Researchers say olo is not just a blue-green hue but a rich and saturated experience.
During an experiment, five people had the unique opportunity to see olo, describing it as jaw-dropping and breathtakingly vivid. The colour can only be experienced through this laser manipulation of the retina, and its richness cannot be conveyed on screens or in articles.
Unlike natural light, which stimulates cones sensitive to different wavelengths, the researchers used a bespoke stimulation method to activate individual M cones. This resulted in a patch of colour about twice the size of a full moon that falls beyond the natural range of the naked eye.
The discovery has sparked debate among experts, with one scientist stating that olo is not a new colour but rather a more saturated green that can be produced under specific conditions. The researchers believe their tool will aid in understanding basic science questions and potentially lead to breakthroughs in colour blindness research or diseases affecting vision.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/apr/18/scientists-claim-to-have-found-colour-no-one-has-seen-before