A group of American scientists has claimed to have discovered a new, never-before-seen color after an experiment saw them fire laser pulses into their eyes.
By stimulating specific cells in the retina, the study’s participants claimed to have seen a brand new green-blue color.
The research, published in the peer-reviewed journal Science Advances on Friday, details the research into the color “olo.”
Study co-author Prof Ren Ng, from the University of California, told BBC Radio 4 that olo was "more saturated than any colour that you can see in the real world."
“It was breathtaking.”Researchers say they’ve discovered a new color called "olo" - similar to a peacock blue.Professor Ren Ng co-authored the study and is one of only five people in the world to see it. pic.twitter.com/Sg0oAubaqV
— Carl Nasman (@CarlNasman) April 20, 2025
"Let's say you go around your whole life and you see only pink, baby pink, a pastel pink," he said. "And then one day you go to the office and someone's wearing a shirt, and it's the most intense baby pink you've ever seen, and they say it's a new colour and we call it red."
“There is no way to convey that colour in an article or on a monitor,” said Austin Roorda, a vision scientist on the team. “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.”
The researchers hope that olo will be the next step in understanding how the brain creates visual perceptions of the world.
Only the study’s five participants have seen the new color so far.
Olo doubters
Despite the excitement, some experts dispute the newness of the color, claiming it is just a “matter of interpretation.”
Prof John Barbur, a vision scientist at City St George's, University of London, said that while the research is a "technological feat," the color’s newness is “open to debate,” according to the Guardian.
“It’s a more saturated green that can only be produced in a subject with normal red-green chromatic mechanism when the only input comes from M cones.”