Laser Stimulation of Photoreceptors Reveals New Colors
Booga1 writes:
Researchers explored a new range of colors using a different kind of laser vision. Direct laser stimulation of individual photoreceptors:
These experiments confirmed that the prototype successfully displays a range of hues in Oz: e.g., from orange to yellow to green to blue-green with a 543-nm stimulating laser that ordinarily looks green. Further, color matching confirms that our attempt at stimulating only M cones displays a color that lies beyond the natural human gamut. We name this new color "olo," with the ideal version of olo defined as pure M activation. Subjects report that olo in our prototype system appears blue-green of unprecedented saturation, when viewed relative to a neutral gray background. Subjects find that they must desaturate olo by adding white light before they can achieve a color match with the closest monochromatic light, which lies on the boundary of the gamut, unequivocal proof that olo lies beyond the gamut.
Related WKRC interview article:
"We predicted from the beginning that it would look like an unprecedented color signal but we didn't know what the brain would do with it," said Ren Ng, an electrical engineer that worked on the study. "It was jaw-dropping. It's incredibly saturated." Komo article: All five researchers who witnessed the new color, which they named "olo," described it as a blue-green, but said that words cannot do it justice. "There is no way to convey that color in an article or on a monitor," said vision scientist Austin Roorda. "The whole point is that this is not the color we see, it's just not. The color we see is a version of it, but it absolutely pale by comparison with the experience of olo."
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