Scientists discover new colour ‘Olo’— but why can’t we see it?

Dubai: In what sounds like something out of science fiction, scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, have reportedly discovered a brand new colour — one the human eye has never seen before.

Named Olo, this dazzling new hue is said to be so vivid and saturated that even the closest digital approximation — an intense turquoise square — fails to capture its full glory.

The discovery, published in Science Advances, involved an experimental procedure that used laser technology to bypass the natural limits of human vision.

Only five people have seen Olo so far, and each of them required precise laser pulses to the retina to experience it. The colour, described as an incredibly rich “peacock blue” or “super-charged teal,” was revealed by stimulating the eye’s M cones — cells typically responsible for detecting medium wavelengths of light.

Under normal conditions, M cones are never activated in isolation. Natural light always stimulates a blend of M, L (long, red-sensitive), and S (short, blue-sensitive) cones together.

But through targeted laser pulses in what scientists dubbed the “Oz vision” system (a nod to the Emerald City in The Wizard of Oz), researchers managed to activate only the M cones — creating a visual experience never before possible.

“We predicted it would be something unprecedented,” said Ren Ng, an electrical engineer at Berkeley. “But we didn’t know what the brain would do with it. It was jaw-dropping. It’s incredibly saturated.”

So far, Olo remains more of an internal experience than a colour we can reproduce.

“You won’t be seeing Olo on any smartphone, TV, or VR headset anytime soon,” said vision scientist Austin Roorda, adding, “there is no way to convey that colour in an article or on a monitor. It absolutely pales in comparison to the experience of seeing it directly.”

Still, others insist the magic lies not in the label but in the experience. Olo, they argue, is more than just another point on the colour wheel — it’s a revelation in how our brain constructs the visual world. And for now, it remains a colour only a lucky few have ever truly seen.