Have scientists discovered a new colour called ‘olo’?

Sat Apr 26 15:00:00 UTC 2025: **Scientists Discover New Color Invisible to the Naked Eye**

BERKELEY, CA – A team of US scientists has announced the discovery of a new color, named “olo,” which is invisible to the human eye without the aid of specialized technology. The research, published in *Science Advances*, details a technique called “Oz,” inspired by the Wizard of Oz, which uses precisely targeted laser pulses to stimulate specific photoreceptor cells in the retina.

This allows researchers to bypass the typical limitations of human color perception. While the human eye uses three types of cone cells to detect red, green, and blue wavelengths, olo stimulates only the medium-wavelength (M) cones, a feat impossible with natural light.

Five participants with normal color vision described olo as a deeply saturated teal, far more vibrant than any naturally occurring shade. While olo exists within the electromagnetic spectrum, its unique stimulation of only M cones places it outside the range of human perception without technological assistance.

The Oz technology, already used to study eye diseases, uses microdoses of laser light to target individual photoreceptors. Researchers emphasized that olo is not a newly created color but rather a pre-existing hue previously inaccessible to human vision.

Professor Ren Ng of UC Berkeley stated that the discovery raises questions about the limits of human color perception and the potential for future applications. Although displaying olo on screens is currently infeasible, the team explores the potential of Oz technology to assist individuals with color blindness. The effectiveness would depend on the type of color blindness, but stimulating deficient cones directly offers a theoretical avenue for correction.

The discovery highlights the interplay between the physical properties of light, neurological processing, and cultural naming of colors. While the physical existence of olo is undisputed, its novelty lies in its newfound accessibility to human experience through technological intervention.

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