Olo was discovered in 2025 by scientists at UC Berkeley. The 5 volunteers described it as a blue-green of "unprecedented saturation". The color is named after its theoretical LMS color space coordinates (0, 1, 0), which spells "olo" in leet speak.
In short, olo is not just a teal. It's a teal beyond teal—more saturated than any display or pigment can replicate. What they're saying: Not all vision experts are convinced that olo qualifies as a truly "new" color in the way that red, blue, or green are.
Using a new technique called “Oz,” scientists at UC Berkeley can trick the eye into seeing images, videos and even a brand new color — a profoundly saturated peacock green that they named “olo.”
However, in the study, the laser only stimulated M cones, "which in principle would send a colour signal to the brain that never occurs in natural vision", the paper said. This means the colour olo could not be seen by a person's naked eye in the real world without the help of specific stimulation.
Rather, olo is created through the intervention of careful computing and lasers. The research team was led by vision scientist Austin Roorda and computer scientist Ren Ng. Together, they figured out a method for stimulating solely the M cones of the retina, which does not happen outside of a specialized lab.
i added SIX SEVEN to Steal a Brainrot (grown man btw)
Why is the color called olo?
Olo was discovered in 2025 by scientists at UC Berkeley. The 5 volunteers described it as a blue-green of "unprecedented saturation". The color is named after its theoretical LMS color space coordinates (0, 1, 0), which spells "olo" in leet speak.
Scientists discovered ancient oceans were actually a rosy hue, making pink the world's oldest-known color. Researchers found the mighty little pink pigment in bacterial fossils from the Sahara Desert in Mauritania, West Africa.
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.
The biggest advantage of Olo is that it puts restaurants in control. Instead of losing customer data and paying high commission fees to third-party platforms, restaurants can use Olo to manage their own online ordering experience.
Cones are a type of photoreceptor, light-detecting cells in your retinas. Most people have three types of cones and can tell apart several million colors. Experts don't have a method that can reliably test for tetrachromacy, which makes determining how common it is very difficult.
Those who have seen olo describe it as a teal or green-blue colour – but one they had never seen before. In the article by UC Berkeley, it is described as a “blue-green colour of unparalleled saturation”.
Teal is a deep blue-green color, named for the colored area around the eye of the common teal bird. Its hex code is #008080. Teal combines the calming properties of blue with the renewal qualities of green.
Olo is a deeply saturated teal or blue-green color that can only be seen with laser stimulation of the eye's photoreceptors. It's not a naturally visible wavelength but a new visual experience created by technology.
As their color vision begins to develop, babies will see the color red first. A baby should be able to see the full spectrum of colors by the time they reach 5 months of age. Eye-hand coordination starts to develop as infants are tracking moving toys with their eyes and reaching out for them.
Light consists of electromagnetic waves, and colour depends on the wavelength. If colours were simply a naming scheme for wavelengths then pink is not one, because it is made up of more than one wavelength (it's actually a mix of red and purple light).
The scientists described olo as a blue-green color, but it's much more intense than anything we normally see. They shared an image of the color they thought olo was closest to, but said that just looking at a photo won't show you olo's true color — it has to be experienced through lasers.
For 2025, the Pantone Color Institute selects PANTONE 17-1230 Mocha Mousse, a warming, brown hue imbued with richness. It nurtures us with its suggestion of the delectable qualities of chocolate and coffee, answering our desire for comfort.
It takes its name from the tree resin known as amber, which has been valued for its appearance since the Stone Age and is still commonly used in jewelry. But while amber as a color is a mix of yellow and orange, amber the resin can come in a variety of shades and is often flecked with brown.
Researchers estimate that most humans can see around one million different colors. This is because a healthy human eye has three types of cone cells, each of which can register about 100 different color shades, amounting to around a million combinations.
New color just dropped — and apparently, no one's ever seen it before. Scientists in the US say they've discovered a brand new shade, a super-saturated blue-green they've named “olo,” after firing lasers into people's eyes (yes, really).
Since 1998, Tiffany Blue® has been registered as a color trademark by Tiffany and, in 2001, was standardized as a custom color created by Pantone® exclusively for Tiffany and not publicly available. No matter the medium the color is reproduced in, Tiffany's proprietary hue remains consistent and instantly recognizable.