Train yourself to see impossible

colors
Alasdair Wilkins
Filed to: MAD SCIENCE 12/09/10 1:25pm

Hidingintheshadowsbetweenthecolorsweseeeverydayareweird,impossible
shades,colorsthatyoushouldn'tbeabletoseeandgenerallydon't...unlessyou
knowhow.Here'sasimpleguidetoseeingimpossibleandimaginarycolors.
ImagebyCodyJames.
Understandingalittleabouthowhumansperceivecoloriscrucialtoseeing
impossiblecolors.Oureyesusesomethingcalledopponentprocesstoworkmore
efficiently.Thisplaysuponthefactthattheeye'sprimarylightreceptors,the
cones,havecertainoverlapsinwhatlightwavelengthstheycanperceive.Tosave
energy,oureyesmeasurethedifferencesbetweentheresponsesofvariouscones
ratherthanfiguringouteachcone'sindividualresponse.
Welongagofoundoutthattherearethreeopponentchannels:redvs.green,blue
vs.yellow,andblackvs.white.(Technically,blackandwhitearen'tcolors,and
theiropponentprocesshasmoretodowithbrightnessthananythingelse.)Now,
let'ssayyoustarerightatthebluestobjectyou'veeverseen.Yourconesthat

primaryperceivethebluewavelengthsaregoingtobeexcited,whilethecones
responsibleforyellowwillbeinhibited.Ifyouthenswitchedtolookingatthe
yellowestthingyou'veeverseen,theexactoppositewouldhappen.
Itprobablyisn'tallthatshockingtopointouttheconescan'tbeexcitedand
inhibitedatthesametime.Thatmeansthatit'simpossibletoseeanobjectthat's
simultaneouslyblueandyelloworredandgreen.I'mnottalkingaboutwhat
happenswhenyoumixthosecolorsandthenlookatthemobviously,you'dget
greenandasortofmurkybrownifyoudidthat.No,whatI'mtalkingabouthere
arecolorsthatareequalpartsblueandyellowattheexactsametime.Canyou
imaginethat?Well,youshouldn'tbeableto,becausethat'sanimpossiblecolor.

469

Thismightallseemabitabstract,butthere'ssomeevidencebackingupthe
existenceofsuchcolors.A1983experimentfeaturedaspecialmachinewhich
separatedthefieldsofvisionofthetestsubject'seyes.Oneeyewouldseeared
screen,whiletheotherwouldseeagreenscreen.Giventime,thecolorswouldmix
together,butthemixingonlyoccurredinthebrain.Withouttheeyethereto
mediatethemixing,redandgreendidn'tbecomebrowntheybecameanew
color,areddishgreencolorthatnoneofthetestsubjectshadeverseenbefore,
andthatincludesanartistwithanextensiveknowledgeofdifferenthuesand
shades.
Admittedly,themethodologyofthatexperimenthassincebeencriticized,and
manyvisionresearcherssayimpossiblecolorsarecalledthatforareasonthey
reallyareimpossible.Thereare,tobesure,alotofalternativeexplanationsforthe
colorsthepeoplesaw:theywerejustintermediatecolorsbetweenthetwo,the
experimentershadn'tproperlycontrolledforluminanceandthatthrewoffthe
results,orthetestsubjectswerereallyjustseered,thengreen,thenred,andsoon,
andneveractuallyviewingthemsimultaneously.
Theseareallfairpoints.However,ifImaymakeacounterpoint,you'reruining
allthefun,visionexperts.Sure,impossiblecolorsmightactuallybeimpossible,but
thatdoesn'tchangethefactthattestsubjectssawcolorstheyhadneverseen

before.Impossiblecolorsmightnotexist,butifit'spossibletofoolourbrainsinto
thinkingtheydo,thenI'dsaythat'sstillprettyawesome.
ThisisoneoftheleastscientificviewpointsI'veeverputforward,andI'mnot
exactlyproudofit,buthey...impossiblecolorsarecool.Nowrelaxeacheyeon
thesetwoplussignsandseeifyoucan'tmakesomeimpossiblecolorsappear.Let
youreyescrosssothatthetwoplusesarerightontopofeachother.I'llsayright
nowthatnoteveryoneisgoingtobeabletoseetheseweirdcolorsI'malmost
certainthatIcan'tbutI'dstillsayit'sworthatry.

I'dberemissifIdidn'talsomentionimaginarycolors.Thesearecolorsthatcannot
beproducedinthephysicallightspectrum,andyetit'spossibletoderivethem
mathematically.Theeasiestwaytounderstandwhatanimaginarycoloriswould
betothinkaboutthethreewavelengthsofconesshort,medium,andlong.LikeI
saidwhentalkingabouttheimaginarycolors,there'sanoverlapintheresponses
ofthesedifferentwavelengths.
Butwhatifyouhadacolorthatonlycreatedaresponseinthemedium
wavelengths?Inreallife,thiscan'thappen,asanythingthatexcitesthemedium
wavelengthsisgoingtoexciteoneorbothoftheotherwavelengths.Butifyoudid
haveacolorthatonlyexcitedthemedium,greenwavelengthswhileleavethe
othertwotypesalone,thenyou'dbeabletoseeacolorgreenerthananyreal
green.
Sothat'sthetheoryhere'showyoudoit.Again,you'vetobesmartaboutyour
opponentprocesses.Ifyouwanttoseeanimaginarygreen,youneedtofindan
exampleofheavilysaturatedredandoneofaheavilysaturatedgreen.Stareatthe
redcolorforaslongasyoucan,thenswitchtolookingatthegreen.Thered
receptorshavebecometoofatiguedtodotheirjobandbeinhibitedbythegreen
color.Thatmeansyourgreenreceptorsaregettingexcitedwithnothingto
counterbalancethem.Theresultisthegreenestcoloryou'veeverseen,onethat
can'texistinthephysicalworld.

Again,thismightallseemabitoutthere,butAmerica'smostlovableevilgeniuses
haveknownaboutthisforyears.WaltDisneyWorldtookadvantageofthiseffect
intheirdesignoftheEPCOTpark,makingthepavementsaparticularshadeof
pinkthattiresouttheredreceptorsandforcesthepark'sgrasstolookgreener
thanitreallyis.Onsecondthought,I'mnotsurethatmakesthisseemanylessout
there.
Formore,checkout"Impossible"Colors:SeeHuesThatCan'tExist(Scientific
American).
orionx3000

aAlasdair Wilkins

12/09/10 5:09pm

heniwasstudyingyogainanashramsomeonetoldmethattribesinafrica
definetheboundrystocolorsdifferentlysotheircolorspectrumisdifferent
muchlikehowdifferentcultureshavedifferentmusicalscales.itsallamatter
ofperspective.:)
orionx3000
a
12/09/10 5:10pm
Ivriniel

@orionx3000:Thatistrueforalotofcultures,actually.

izikavazo

aorionx3000

12/09/10 5:35pm

@orionx3000:That'sawesome.
I'msurekidsarelikethattoo.Mynephewlovestocomeupwith"matching"
outfitsandthey'reamazinglyclashing.Forexample,he'ssurethatpurple
andbrownlookgreatnexttoeachother.Tomethat'shorrific,butIcan't
expresstohimwhyit'ssougly.
Ifigurekidsdon'thavethebiasofthecolorwheeloracceptedstylistic
conventionsrammedintotheirmindssothey'remoreopentoformtheir
ownopinions.Ofcoursewetrytosquashthatkindofthinkingassoonaswe
can.

bakana

aorionx3000

12/09/10 5:46pm

@orionx3000:InRussia,"blue"()and"skyblue"()are
consideredtotallydifferentcolors,withtheirown'stripe'intherainbow.

Conversely,inMandarin,""isasinglecolor,butitincludesbothwhatwe
wouldcallblueandgreen,whicharejustconsidereddifferentshadesof
"."(IthinkthisissimilarinJapan,too.)
IrememberreadingaboutsomeMiddleEasternculture(Persians?)that
hadnoword/conceptfor'blue',allbluesfallingundereither'purple'or
'green'.I'mfuzzyonthisone,anyonethatcanclarifywouldbemuch
appreciated.
bakana
a
12/09/10 6:23pm
kagekiri

@bakana:Idon'tknowthatmuchMandarin(can'treaditforcrap),but
isn'tblue"lanse"andgreen"luse"?
Soeveniftheyhaveanambiguouswordslike"zhen"(Ithinkthat'sthe
pinyinforthecharacteryouwrote),theydohaveconcretewaysto
differentiatebetweengreenandbluethanonshadesofalone.

RemusShepherd
12/09/10 5:19pm

aAlasdair Wilkins

I'mcolorblind.Cansomeonetrainmetoseeactualcolors,please?

zero_gravitas
12/09/10 5:30pm

aRemusShepherd

@RemusShepherd:I'vealwayswonderedexactlywhatacolorblindperson
sees...Imean,isbasicallyeverythinginblack&whiteforyou?
Sorry,justreallywondering...
RemusShepherd
a
12/09/10 6:03pm
ksf

@RemusShepherd:Ifeelyourpain.

bookwench

azero_gravitas

12/09/10 6:24pm

@thethirdchimpanzee:There'scolorblind,andthenthere'scolorblind.Most
colorblindfolkscanseecolor,buttheycan'ttellsomecolorsappart,likered
andgreenbothlooklikeamessybrowntothem.

Thenthere'sfolkswhoseeinblackandwhitebecausethey'rebornwitha
mutationthatmessesuptheirreceptors.Thesefolksare*really*rareand
mosthaveloadsofproblemswithbrightlights,excessivedarkness,etc.They
havetroubledifferentiatingedgesandfastmovingthingscanmessthem
up.It'snotcool,likeseeingtheworldasablackandwhitephotograph.
morehere:
[en.wikipedia.org]
bookwench
a
12/09/10 7:52pm
zero_gravitas

@bookwench:Thanks.That'swhatIwasalwayswonderingabout.Forthe
longesttimeIthought"colorblind"meantyoudon'tseecolors*atall*but
statementsbypeoplewhoarecolorblindmademequestionthat...
Ithinkit'ssomethingsimilarwith"tonedeafness"...
Alasdair Wilkins
a
12/09/10 9:50pm
jitpleecheep

Ohhere'sio9explainingscience,again.
Theressomanythingsjustwronginthispost.Youhaven'tunderstood
colourvisionatall...
And.Here.We.Go.
"Oureyesusesomethingcalledopponentprocesstoworkmoreefficiently."
No.
Oureyesdon't.Ourbraindoes.
You'retotallymixinguptheresponseoftheeyes'conesandtheprocessing
thatoccursinthe'corpusgeniculatumlaterale',whichis,like,atotally
differentthing...
"Yourconesthatprimaryperceivethebluewavelengthsaregoingtobe
excited,whiletheconesresponsibleforyellowwillbeinhibited.[...]It
probablyisn'tallthatshockingtopointouttheconescan'tbeexcitedand
inhibitedatthesametime."
It'squiteshockingtomethatyouagainfailtodifferbetweentheconesand
thebrain,andthatyouimplybythisthattheconesexcitedby'blue'
wavelenghtsarethesamethatareexcitedby'yellow'wavelengths...

Ofcoursethe'blue'conescanbeexcitedatthesametimethe'yellow'ones
are.Becausethere'snosuchthingas'blue'and'yellow'cones!
(Whichwouldberatherobvious,ifyouwouldhaveshownnotonlythe
(estimated)outputofthecorpusgeniculatumlaterale,buttheactualoutput
oftheconesaswell:
[upload.wikimedia.org])
Furthermore,howdoyouexplainthelineofpurplesincolourvisionwhich
cannotbereplicatedbypurespectralcolours,preytell?
(Hint:It'sbecausedifferentcones_can_beexcitedatthesametime)
"Thatmeansthatit'simpossibletoseeanobjectthat'ssimultaneouslyblue
andyellow[...]."
Ohreally,isit?Itmaycomeasasurprisetoyou,butthat'sjustexactlyhow
yourbasicwhiteLEDworks...
"I'mnottalkingaboutwhathappenswhenyoumixthosecolorsandthen
lookatthem[...]"
I'nottalkingaboutthefactthatyouhaven'tunderstoodthedifference
betweentheadditiveandsubtractivecolourmodel...
"[T]heconeshavecertainoverlapsinwhatlightwavelengthstheycan
perceive.Tosaveenergy,oureyesmeasurethedifferencesbetweenthe
responsesofvariousconesratherthanfiguringouteachcone'sindividual
response."
Oh,nowyou'retalkingaboutoverlap.Weren'tyoujustsayingthat'cones
can'tbeexcitedandinhibitedatthesametime'...?
Onesortofconesisjustexcitedbyonewavelengthtoacertaindegree,ina
gaussiandistributionsortofway.Thismeans,thatatacertainwavelength
itsresponsereachesamaximum(let'ssay'1'at555nmfortheconetype'M').
Butthecone'M'cannotdiscernbyitselfwhetheraresponselowerthan'1'is
excitedbyawavelengthlowerorhigherthan555nm.So,whatthecolour
visionsystemisactuallydoing,it'striangulatingbetweentheS,M,andL
cones.Itknows,thatwhen'M'readslowerthan1,and'S'readshigherthan
'L',thecolourmustbesomewhatofftotheblueside.
Factis:youshouldn'tbetalkingaboutcolourvision.Atleastnotonio9.
jitpleecheep
a
12/09/10 10:28pm
Unspellable

@jitpleecheep:Wow.

Just:"Wow".
(No,reallythanksfortheinfo.)
jitpleecheep
a
12/09/10 10:39pm
gd01skorpius

@jitpleecheep:Ireallyhatetopromoteyourcomment,butyoumovedmeto
aresponse.
Goodforyouforhavingadeeperunderstandingoftheprocess,butjeez
lightenup!
Weallgetthatio9isn'tahardcorescienceinfosite.Wedon'tcomehereto
geteducatedwecomeheretogetinterested.
Theabovearticleisjusttheauthor'sinterpretationofsomethinginteresting,
andthenheevensitedthesource.
Whenyougetreallyexcitedaboutsomethingyoudon'tfullyunderstand,do
yourfriendsgetmad,breakdownindetaileverythingyougotwrong,and
tellyoutoneverbringitupagain?

hungryemo

ajitpleecheep

12/09/10 10:49pm

@jitpleecheep:OhhaiGrinch!

BoxOfScraps

ajitpleecheep

12/09/10 11:47pm

@jitpleecheep:Ibetyoutearupchildren'sdrawingsbecausetheypaintthe
skygreenandtheskyisn'tfuckinggreenyoustupidfuckingkids.
Alasdair Wilkins
a
12/09/10 5:58pm
SinDonor2

Weshallnamethisnewcolor"fnord".
SinDonor2
a
12/09/10 6:08pm
Vexxarr

@SinDonor2:What?Nameitwhat?Youstartedasentancethereandjust
neverfinshedit.

Chip Overclock
12/09/10 6:27pm

aVexxarr

@Vexxarr:Imageuploadfail,too.

sometingwong
12/09/10 6:39pm

aSinDonor2

@SinDonor2:IseetheFNORDS!

Vexxarr

asometingwong

12/09/10 7:43pm

@sometingwong:YouseetheWHAT?Whatdoyousee?
Youstartasentenceandthenleaveoffthelastword!

Annalee Newitz
12/10/10 1:14am

aAlasdair Wilkins

Ijustsawacolouroutofspace.Whatdoesthatmean?

jmicha

aAnnalee Newitz

12/10/10 2:58am

@AnnaleeNewitz:wasn'titadoublerainbow?
Annalee Newitz
a
12/10/10 11:22am
dgoat

@AnnaleeNewitz:Itmeansyouprobablyshouldn'teatanyofthevegetables
inyourgarden,now.

Jason Callina
12/10/10 11:26am

aAnnalee Newitz

@AnnaleeNewitz:ThatyoushouldmoveoutofMassachusetts.)
Alasdair Wilkins
a
12/09/10 4:43pm
crosis101

Butwhatifyouhadacolorthatonlycreatedaresponseinthe
mediumwavelengths?Inreallife,thiscan'thappen,asanything
thatexcitesthemediumwavelengthsisgoingtoexciteoneor
bothoftheotherwavelengths.Butifyoudidhaveacolorthat
onlyexcitedthemedium,greenwavelengthswhileleavethe
othertwotypesalone,thenyou'dbeabletoseeacolorgreener
thananyrealgreen.
isn'tthisthedefinitionofaLaser?

icelight

acrosis101

12/09/10 5:00pm

@crosis101:No.Evenapuregreenlaserwillstillactivatedtheredandblue
cones,justtoaverylowdegree.
crosis101
a
12/09/10 5:22pm
John Forsberg

@crosis101:No,becausethegreenlaserwillstillexcitetheshortandlong
wavelengthreceptorstosomedegree(astheirabsorptionrangesstretchinto
green).
Alternatively(ashementioned),bytiringoutthelongorshortwavelength
receptors(oraretheydownregulated?),themiddlewavelengthreceptor
signalingappearsthatmuchstronger,youcanproduceaperceptionof
ultravividgreen.

Prismatist

acrosis101

12/15/10 5:33pm

@crosis101:Toelaborateonicelight'snote:
EventhoughaLaserdoesproduceapurewavelength,it'stheeye'sresponse
tothatwavelengththatwe'retalkingabouthere.Everywavelengthexcites
thethreereceptortypesdifferently,andourbraininterpretstheratiosand
absoluteamplitudeofthethreesignalsasthecoloursandbrightnessesthat
wesee.Whatyourquotedtextdescribesisthatyoutaketheneuralsignal
fromtheeyeandselectivelyeliminateoneortwoofthethreesignal
components.Theresultingsignalwouldbeinterpretedbythebraininaway
thatwouldproduceaperceivedcolourthatcannotexistinphysicalreality.

Prismatist

aicelight

12/15/10 5:34pm

@icelight:Toelaborate:
EventhoughaLaserdoesproduceapurewavelength,it'stheeye'sresponse
tothatwavelengththatwe'retalkingabouthere.Everywavelengthexcites
thethreereceptortypesdifferently,andourbraininterpretstheratiosand
absoluteamplitudeofthethreesignalsasthecoloursandbrightnessesthat
wesee.Whatthequotedtextdescribesisthatyoutaketheneuralsignal
fromtheeyeandselectivelyeliminateoneortwoofthethreesignal
components.Theresultingsignalwouldbeinterpretedbythebraininaway
thatwouldproduceaperceivedcolourthatcannotexistinphysicalreality.
Reply

8x10

aAlasdair Wilkins

12/09/10 4:44pm

Besidesaheadache,thisisallIgot.
8x10
a
12/09/10 4:55pm
Bismod

@8x10:Samewithme,withahintofneongreenthatiwouldn'tcallan
impossiblecolorsomuchastheeffectofoppositesnexttooneanother
(unlessthat'sthepoint).Also,nicevisual.

Layn

a8x10

12/09/10 4:57pm

@8x10:yep,metoo,minustheheadache

8x10

aBismod

12/09/10 5:14pm

@Bismod:Photoshop.
8x10
a
12/09/10 5:22pm
Necoras

@8x10:Igetthat,butthecolorsmoveandshift.Kindalikeaweird
screensaver.

GetRevenge32
12/10/10 12:31am

aAlasdair Wilkins

Whydoeseveryonesayblackandwhitearenotcolors?!Howaretheynot
colors?...shouldweonlyconsiderpinkorgrayhalfcolorssincetheyare
beingmixedwithnoncolors?Itsoundssostupidsayingblackandwhiteare
notcolors.
andiftheyarenotcolorsthenwhatarethey?

GamerKT

aGetRevenge32

12/10/10 1:25am

@GetRevenge32:Blackisashade.whiteisa...tint,Ibelieve.
Middleschoolartclass.

Aaron Crabtree
12/10/10 1:45am

aGetRevenge32

@GetRevenge32:Blackmeansthere'ssolittlelightreachingyoureyethat
theopticalnervesarenotadequatelystimulatedforyourbraintoinfera
color.Whitemeansthereareequalpartsofred,green,andbluehittingyour
eyeor,alternatively,theamplitude(brightness)ofthelightwavehitting

youreyeishighenoughthatnervesbecomeoverstimulatedandthebrain
stopspayingattentiontowhatcoloritis,asit'smoreinterestedingetting
youtostoplookingatthebrightobject.
So,no,theyarenotcolors.A"color"referstolightofacertainwavelength.
Thereisno"white"wavelength.Thereisno"black"wavelength.
GetRevenge32
a
12/10/10 1:47am
InnerRayg

@GetRevenge32:Shades.
GetRevenge32
a
12/10/10 2:22am
riser411

@GetRevenge32:they'retones.
Inorderforsomethingtobea'color',itneedstocontainbasicpigmentation
elements.Butobviously,therearethingsthatlackpigmentationyetoureyes
canstill'see'thembasedonvariancesintheamountoflightsomething's
surfaceabsorbs.Thosevariancesarecalledtonality.
Seethat'swhatyougetforfallingasleepinjr.highscienceandartclasses.

hawkingdo

aAlasdair Wilkins

12/09/10 10:21pm

Ontheblueyellowtest:Reallycooleffect.
I'msureeveryoneprocesstheinformationdifferently,butformeitwaslike
seeingawaterpatternthatoscillatedfromtheblueandtheyellow.Nostops
inbetween,butitjustlookedlikealakeripplinginstraightlineschanging
thepatternfrombluetoyellow.Reallycool.

hawkingdo

ahawkingdo

12/09/10 10:30pm

@hahn:Asfortheredgreentest:Ididthatwith2fullscreenpaintimages
with255Redand255Greenwith120Luminosity.
Itwasn'tasintense.Theredlookedmorepinkandthegreenlookedmore...
Idon'tknow"forestish"Iguess.

hdgotham

aAlasdair Wilkins

12/09/10 4:48pm

Iseeverymuddygreen,thatwastooblue,butalsotooyellow.Italsokept
shiftingaseacheyetriedtomakeoneimagego'ontop'oftheother.
Makesense?
Morethanimpossiblecolors,I'mfascinatedbythequestionwhenother
peopleseethecolorblue,dotheyseethesamecolorIdo?

BioLady is bored with her name

12/09/10 4:55pm

ahdgotham

@hdgotham(HannahWilson):haha.youmustbesmokingpotinyour
collegedormrightnow.Farout,man.
BioLady is bored with her name
a
12/09/10 4:57pm
hdgotham

@BioLady:Thisismewithoutpot.Withpot....well...that'sawholeother
thing.

DasStan

ahdgotham

12/09/10 5:10pm

@hdgotham(HannahWilson):Iloveplayingthatthoughtexperiment.
"Whatifmy[color/concept/thoughtproccesshere]isdifferentthanthat
persons?"

Mr.CardHolder and Mr.Doe

12/09/10 5:40pm

ahdgotham

@hdgotham(HannahWilson):ihavealwayswonderedaboutthat.imean
youcouldperceiverealitydifferentlyfromeveryoneelse,butyouwould
neverknowit.cantreallyhoptoanewbodytotryitout.

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