It is possible to see something close (how close I don't know) by saturating the S & M cones instead of avoiding them. Wikipedia refers to these as 'chimerical colors':
If you are interested in "imaginary" colors, the gamut is actually well-specified, and (I hope it is appropriate to comment) that I made a visualization where you can drag a selection thumb over the gamut to see the "simulated" version of that color. Also include it is a 12-step contrast-sensitive color palette generator for said imaginary colors, which would allow you to make websites and (say) vscode themes using entirely imaginary colors! https://docs.moment.dev/d/hausdorff/2zmqjlmldchela29xvbzlbki...
red_admiral
Someone is trying to recreate "the seven colors of the earthly rainbow and the three extra colors you only get in Heaven" (from Scott Alexander's UNSONG).
Reminds me a bit of a Greg Egan story from Instantiation called Seventh Sight. Kids with artificial eyes hack them to see colors and spectrum not perceptible by humans.
kveykva
This reads like an SCP article
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pixelatedindex
I wonder why if this is the reason for the icon color of the game Olo. The left half of the icon background looks so similar.
> Olo was discovered on April 18, 2025 by scientists at UC Berkeley.[1][3] The color is named after its theoretical LMS color space coordinates (0, 1, 0), which spells "olo" in leet speak.[4][3]
I presume "loo" and "ool" are in-gamut? What hex values?
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xpct
Since colors are an activation of rods and cones, could we simulate them by stimulating the eye nerves directly? Not necessarily to see new colors, but to replicate the experience of sight? If we managed that, wouldn't it feel exactly the same as seeing something in nature that itches the back of the eye so nicely? I suppose this is entering the brain interface territory.
purplethreads
> The color is named after its theoretical LMS color space coordinates (0, 1, 0), which spells "olo" in leet speak.
:)
Hm, so is it correct to also call it ultragreen? In the same way that ultraviolet is the same effect but for short waves?
In this regard, it can’t be that novel of a discovery.
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semolino
Having read this comment from today detailing variance in the default Windows 95 background (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49329282), I'm imagining Olo would be your wallpaper if "257 colors" could be supported.
It is possible to see something close (how close I don't know) by saturating the S & M cones instead of avoiding them. Wikipedia refers to these as 'chimerical colors':
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impossible_color#Chimerical_co...
If you are interested in "imaginary" colors, the gamut is actually well-specified, and (I hope it is appropriate to comment) that I made a visualization where you can drag a selection thumb over the gamut to see the "simulated" version of that color. Also include it is a 12-step contrast-sensitive color palette generator for said imaginary colors, which would allow you to make websites and (say) vscode themes using entirely imaginary colors! https://docs.moment.dev/d/hausdorff/2zmqjlmldchela29xvbzlbki...
Someone is trying to recreate "the seven colors of the earthly rainbow and the three extra colors you only get in Heaven" (from Scott Alexander's UNSONG).
Is it too late to rename it to Octarine?
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/octarine
The closest approximation to Olo colored paint you can buy is also by the company that makes some of the blackest black paint. I haven't used it personally. https://culturehustle.com/collections/paint/products/yolo-ne...
Really enjoyed this article about it https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2026/08/03/what-would-it-...
Aha! I was trying to figure out the colour of the E5/H5 Shinkansen that are used on the Tokyo-Morioka-Aomori (Hayabusa/Yamabiko) line. This is it.
https://kagi.com/images?q=e5+h5+shinkansen&r=au&sh=fWcD0dVpC...
Reminds me a bit of a Greg Egan story from Instantiation called Seventh Sight. Kids with artificial eyes hack them to see colors and spectrum not perceptible by humans.
This reads like an SCP article
I wonder why if this is the reason for the icon color of the game Olo. The left half of the icon background looks so similar.
https://www.eurogamer.net/olo-review
> Olo was discovered on April 18, 2025 by scientists at UC Berkeley.[1][3] The color is named after its theoretical LMS color space coordinates (0, 1, 0), which spells "olo" in leet speak.[4][3]
I presume "loo" and "ool" are in-gamut? What hex values?
Since colors are an activation of rods and cones, could we simulate them by stimulating the eye nerves directly? Not necessarily to see new colors, but to replicate the experience of sight? If we managed that, wouldn't it feel exactly the same as seeing something in nature that itches the back of the eye so nicely? I suppose this is entering the brain interface territory.
> The color is named after its theoretical LMS color space coordinates (0, 1, 0), which spells "olo" in leet speak.
:)
Hm, so is it correct to also call it ultragreen? In the same way that ultraviolet is the same effect but for short waves?
In this regard, it can’t be that novel of a discovery.
Having read this comment from today detailing variance in the default Windows 95 background (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49329282), I'm imagining Olo would be your wallpaper if "257 colors" could be supported.
Brown
https://youtu.be/wh4aWZRtTwU
So weird. #00FFCC has been my terminal font color for nearly two decades now. Love the color and had no idea about the ‘imaginary’ color Olo.
This is how people talk about how ancient greeks viewed blue, except we actually can't see this color normally.
"They then used lasers to deliver tiny doses of light"
I didn't know there was funding for this
I wonder how long it will take until this is some kind of an amusement park thing or whatever.
We know so much about color, but we're in the dark ages when it comes to odor.
Same thing as “ultragreen” (as in ultraviolet)
how bout Grorange
is zoox olo colored?
Mix with yellow to get new color Yolo
This color does not give a fuck, I use it in my main CTA. People click it like 4000% more
Time for a trip then.
Now I remembered how you see this color. You stare the some shape of 0xFF0030 and then close yores eyes and the inverted color appears.
...
lol
> Only the five subjects of the Berkeley experiment have officially seen olo.
Basically equivalent to
source: trust me bro