Imagine seeing a color no one else on Earth has ever seen. A hue that doesn’t exist in nature. A color that can’t be captured on camera, printed in a book, or even displayed on your smartphone screen. That’s exactly what a team of researchers at UC Berkeley have done — they’ve created a brand new color, and they’ve called it “olo.”
The implications are as fascinating as they are profound. This scientific breakthrough not only challenges our understanding of vision but could open doors to enhancing human perception itself. So, what exactly is olo? And how did scientists manage to “invent” a color?
Let’s dive into one of the most mind-bending experiments in modern neuroscience and color theory.
What Is “Olo”?
“Olo” is a color that no human had ever seen before until it was created inside a small lab in Northern California. It cannot be found on any Pantone chart, painted on a canvas, or reproduced digitally. It lives purely within the human visual system, activated only under specific lab-controlled conditions.
The color was discovered by a research team led by Professors Austin Roorda and Ren Ng at UC Berkeley. According to Roorda, the color appears as an ultra-intense teal — a vivid, electric mix of green and blue that doesn’t resemble anything found in nature.
To experience olo, you can’t just look at a screen. You need to undergo a sophisticated retinal targeting experiment where a laser stimulates very specific cone cells in your eye — namely, the M cones. These cones are never stimulated in isolation in the natural world, which is why olo cannot occur without this artificial setup.
How Is Olo Seen?
In order to see olo, subjects must place their head on a fixed bite plate and stare into a large, high-tech device. A laser targets over a thousand cone cells on the retina that have been precisely mapped in advance. When the beam activates only the M cones, the brain interprets this stimulation as a completely new color experience.
So far, only five individuals have had the chance to see olo — and all describe it as a striking form of teal. The researchers verified the consistency of the experience across all five participants using intensity ratings and comparison exercises with natural colors. While subjective perception makes it impossible to know if everyone saw exactly the same thing, the responses were close enough to confirm that a unique color was being consistently perceived.
Scientists say olo was best matched by this blue green colour square. (CREDIT: Science Advances)
The Philosopher’s Color
Olo isn’t just a scientific marvel — it’s a philosophical enigma. For centuries, philosophers have questioned whether we all perceive colors the same way. Is my blue the same as your blue? Could you be seeing my red when you look at the sky? These questions are now front and center again.
Zed Adams, a professor of philosophy at the New School who specializes in color perception, commented on the research, calling the team’s method to verify the shared experience of olo “ingenious.” While we still can’t know if everyone is seeing the same olo, the close match in perception hints that this is more than just a neurological anomaly — it’s a repeatable human experience.
The Emotional Impact
Roorda, who was either the first or second person to ever see olo, described the moment as “profound.” While it wasn’t a dramatic, cinematic event, the afterglow of witnessing something entirely new stayed with him. He likened it to a quiet euphoria.
But not everyone involved has seen olo. James Fong, a Ph.D. student at UC Berkeley and first author of the academic paper announcing the discovery, helped name the color — but has never seen it himself. By a twist of fate, he drew the short straw when the team selected who would get their retinas mapped.
“I would be disappointed if I finished my Ph.D. program without seeing the color that I spent a good fraction of my time here studying,” Fong said.
Still, he takes pride in having named the color. “Olo” is a reference to 0-1-0 — the binary pattern representing stimulation of only the M cone, the middle-wavelength cone cell. It’s a geeky, poetic name for a color no one can paint.
The Future of Human Vision?
Right now, olo can only be seen under very specific lab conditions. But what if one day, new colors like olo could become a regular part of our daily experience?
There’s precedent. Scientists have already used gene therapy to introduce new cone pigments into squirrel monkeys, who are born color-blind. The monkeys appear to gain access to new colors after the procedure. What if humans could do the same?
Some women already have a fourth cone cell type in their retinas, but only one known subject — a woman known as cDa29 — has demonstrated the ability to see millions of additional color variations beyond what the rest of us can perceive. The UC Berkeley team is now experimenting with mimicking this effect using lasers to simulate what a four-cone retina would experience.
If the brain can interpret the signals correctly, gene therapy might one day allow humans to gain “super vision,” seeing a world populated by exponentially more shades and hues. That could revolutionize everything from art and fashion to digital displays and environmental design.
Art Meets Science
It didn’t take long for artists to jump on the olo bandwagon. Renowned U.K. artist Stuart Semple has already started taking preorders for a paint inspired by the color. Its name? YOLO — a cheeky nod to the once-in-a-lifetime experience of seeing a new hue.
Other artists and designers are reaching out to the UC Berkeley team, eager to explore how this technology might be adapted for immersive experiences. Could virtual reality environments of the future offer colors beyond the visible spectrum today?
Conclusion: A New Sensory Frontier
The discovery of olo is more than a scientific footnote — it’s a profound reminder of how much we still don’t understand about human perception. For a sense as fundamental as sight, it’s shocking that we’re still exploring its boundaries in 2025.
While most people may never get the chance to see olo — at least not without a trip to UC Berkeley — its mere existence hints at a much bigger idea: that the world we experience may only be a tiny sliver of what’s truly possible.
As researchers continue to push the limits of perception, olo might be just the first in a whole new spectrum of colors waiting to be discovered.
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