After wandering the Earth for eons, you might think humans have seen all there is to see. Yet, a revolutionary team of scientists claims to have encountered a color never before seen by human eyes!

In a groundbreaking experiment, researchers in the US directed laser pulses straight into their retinas, sending their perception beyond natural boundaries. The result? A new hue that, while described as blue-green, fails to do justice to the vividness of the experience.

Ren Ng, an electrical engineer from the University of California, Berkeley, stated, 'We anticipated that it would emerge as an unprecedented color signal, but we were baffled by how the brain would interpret it. The experience was jaw-dropping and incredibly saturated!'

To give a glimpse of this remarkable color, aptly named 'olo', researchers presented a turquoise square. However, they emphasize that this hue can only be truly appreciated through specialized laser manipulation.

Austin Roorda, a vision scientist on the team, expressed, 'No picture can capture this color—it’s simply not how our eyes perceive things normally. What we see is a diluted version; olo outshines it by leagues!'

Our eyes detect colors thanks to specific cells in the retina known as cones. They come in three varieties, each responding to different wavelengths. Natural light activates these cones in various combinations, leading to our perception of color. However, there’s no light source that exclusively triggers the medium-wavelength cones.

Determined to break this limitation, the Berkeley scientists meticulously mapped sections of a subject’s retina, pinpointing their M cones. Using a laser, they scanned the retina, delivering targeted pulses of light to each cone, which lit up exclusively the M cones—a feat unattainable through regular light.

The ambitious study has claimed to reveal a patch of dazzling color nearly double the size of the full moon in our visual field. This color exists beyond what the human eye can naturally perceive and derives its name, 'olo', from the binary 010, highlighting that solely the M cones are activated.

However, not everyone is convinced. Vision scientist John Barbur from University of London remarked, 'This isn’t a new color; it’s a more intense green resulting from stimulation of M cones in individuals with normal color vision. Its practical applications are limited.'

The creators of this intriguing tool, dubbed Oz vision in homage to the Emerald City, hope it will unlock essential insights into how our brains process what we see. Potential implications could stretch into understanding color blindness and various eye diseases.

But will the average person ever bask in the glory of olo? Ren Ng skeptically replied, 'This is foundational science. Don’t expect to see olo on smartphones or TVs anytime soon. It's far beyond current VR technology!'

As scientists unveil this extraordinary breakthrough, one thing is clear: the quest to understand color perception has only just begun, and we are just scratching the surface!