• Researchers have created a new color called 'Olo' that is outside human visual perception.
• The color can only be seen through stimulation of specific retinal cells using lasers.
• 'Olo' is described as a saturated shade of blue-green, richer than any known color.
• The findings could have implications for understanding color blindness.

A team of scientists has claimed to discover a new color, named 'Olo', that has never been observed by the human eye. This breakthrough came from a unique experiment conducted in the US, where researchers used laser pulses to stimulate specific cells in the retina, leading participants to perceive this unprecedented color. Prof. Ren Ng, co-author of the study from the University of California, described 'Olo' as “more saturated than any colour that you can see in the real world,” highlighting its intensity and richness according to BBC.

The term 'Olo' stems from the fact that the stimulation predominantly activated the M cone cells in the retina without involving the adjacent S or L cones. Normally, any stimulation of the M cones would also involve the neighboring cones, leading to a mix of colours that people are familiar with. In this case, however, the isolated stimulation produced a color signal that does not occur in natural vision, revealing a novel experience of color perception according to Dawn.

The research findings were published in the journal Science Advances, further establishing their scientific credibility. The experiment involved five participants, all having normal color vision, who looked into an optical device called Oz designed to deliver the laser pulses. As stated in the research paper, participants adjusted a color dial to match the perceived color 'Olo', demonstrating the significant difference in color perception facilitated through specialized stimuli, as reported by Times of India.

Despite the intriguing discovery, some scientists remain skeptical, asserting that the existence of 'Olo' as a new color is still "open to argument". They contend that color perception can be highly subjective and varies greatly among individuals. Nonetheless, researchers like Prof. Ng are optimistic about the implications of this work for future studies, particularly in understanding and possibly aiding individuals with color blindness, where distinguishing between different colors is challenging according to BBC.