Will we soon be able to see new colors thanks to this invention?

American scientists have announced that they have discovered, thanks to their invention stimulating certain retinal cells, A new color which was not visible for the human eye until today.

A device to “hack” our retina

For the human eye, color perception is achievable thanks to the simultaneous action of the conesspecialized cells (photoreceptors) located in our retina. There are three types, all sensitive to different wavelengths: cones l For long, Cite M For averages and cones s For short (shorts).

These cones are specialized in the reception of red, green and blue, which makes it possible to obtain the whole of the color spectrum that we know by combining these different signals and by sending information to the brain. Nevertheless, under natural conditions, no light can stimulate a single type of cone in isolation.

For example, the M cones, which detect green, always react in part to the reds and the Blues because of the overlap of their sensitivity curves.

It was on this “problem” that researchers at the University of California have looked. Thanks to their prototype “Oz”, baptized in this way in reference to the Magician of Oz (musical musical in which Dorothy abandons his world in black and white for another particularly colorful), the scientists have succeeded in Direct a laser beam only on the m cones mwhich created An unprecedented neuronal signal For our brain.

However, this signal is not known, our brain cannot attach it to a known color, an approach that bypass the limits of our natural vision. In other words, researchers have managed to “hack” the human retina, which opens the way to A palette of colors so far invisible and unknown !

A new color? Really ?

In order to verify their theory, the researchers called on three volunteers, who were invited to fix their eyes on a neutral gray background while a green laser flashed towards their retinawhich, as explained previously, makes it possible to send the signal of an “unknown” color to the brain.

According to the participants, the perceived color did not effectively correspond to any color proposed thereafter from the natural association of red, green and blue, the experience therefore allowed these volunteers of OBserver a color still unknown, outside the usual chromatic spectrum. This color was Called “olo” and would approacha kind of fluorescent greenalthough it is impossible to describe because still unknown for almost all of the population.

But the experience did not stop there since the scientists projected small doses of lights on other cones while the participants followed a point in motion, which allowed them to observe other unknown colors But also forms similar to shiny lines or rotation tips on a background of the famous “OLO” color.

Despite these amazing results, this experience is not unanimous in the scientific community, some researchers explaining this color “OLO” as a simple accentuation of an already known color.

In addition, stimulated photoreceptors were located in the periphery of the visual field (because it is easier to target), or they produce A less clear and less detailed imagewhich could have distorted the perception of these “unknown” colors.

In any case, researchers in charge of this unusual experience are confident of their results and see in “Oz” a promising technological advance for EXplorer and better understand the human visual system on a cellular scale. These also plan to use this new technology in searching for it and The treatment of daltonismwhich concerns 10% of men and 0.5% of women worldwide.

Article reference:

“Olo”: a new color discovered by researchers, so far invisible to the naked eye, GEO (23/06/2025), Adélie Clouet d’Orval