Scientists have recently discovered a colour that no one has ever seen before. They created it during a bold experiment that used laser pulses on human eyes. This new colour doesn’t exist in the natural world and lies beyond the usual range of human vision.

Technology Pushes Vision Beyond Limits

Normally, our eyes see colours with the help of special cells in the retina called cones. These cones—L, M, and S—react to different wavelengths of light. But in this experiment, scientists used lasers to stimulate the cones in a new way. As a result, they made the eyes experience something completely new.

Hard to Describe What They Saw

Even though five people saw the colour, they had trouble explaining it. They described it as a type of “blue-green,” but they admitted this didn’t fully capture what they saw. The new hue didn’t match anything that already exists in the visible spectrum.

Ren Ng, an electrical engineer at the University of California, Berkeley, said, “We predicted from the beginning that it would look like an unprecedented colour signal but we didn’t know what the brain would do with it. It was jaw-dropping. It’s incredibly saturated.”

Screens Can’t Show the Real Colour

The team shared an image of a turquoise square to give people a rough idea. However, they made it clear that it’s not the same as seeing the real colour. The true experience only happens when a laser directly stimulates the eye.

Austin Roorda, a vision expert on the team, said, “There is no way to convey that colour in an article or on a monitor. The whole point is that this is not the colour we see, it’s just not. The colour we see is a version of it, but it absolutely pales by comparison with the experience of olo.”

Why They Named It “Olo”

The scientists decided to name the colour “olo.” This name comes from binary code—specifically 010. It refers to the unique way only the M cones were activated. The L and S cones stayed inactive, which doesn’t happen with normal light.

How the Human Eye Usually Sees Colour

Under everyday conditions, our eyes rely on three types of cones:

• L cones respond to red light (long wavelength)

• M cones respond to green light (medium wavelength)

• S cones respond to blue light (short wavelength)

Together, they help us see a wide variety of colours. But they usually work together by mixing signals from different wavelengths.

What Makes “Olo” Unique

This colour is different because it comes from targeting only the M cones. Natural light can’t do that. Therefore, the brain reacts in a way it normally wouldn’t. That’s why this colour lies outside the known visual spectrum.