Human Potential for Hexachromacy

Info: You need to (be able to) cross your eyes inwards to be able to see the following impossible color combinations for yourself.

6-Dimensional Hypercube of "Impossible" (Trichromatic) Binocular Color Combinations

A cube resolution that's more than 3x3x3 will probably cause some lags; be aware of that.

This 6D hypercube demonstrates that for every color you can see in your first eye, you can inflect that color with every color of your second eye. For example, there isn't a single "yellow", but a volume of many different kinds of yellows.

From the Title to Reality: The Bold Hexachromacy Claim

At first glance, the idea that humans could possess hexachromatic vision might raise eyebrows. After all, suggesting humans can see with six different cones, compared to the typical three, is indeed a bold assertion. But by the end of this article, not only will you understand the basis for this claim, but you'll also have witnessed the seemingly impossible colors for yourself that result from the combination of these six virtual cones.

When we think of human vision, we naturally think of trichromacy. In simpler terms, this means that most humans perceive the world using three different cones. Given this established knowledge, the jump to hexachromacy can seem far-fetched. However, it's essential to understand that being trichromatic is not the end of our color-seeing potential, but rather, an enablement for even higher color vision with the help of the following concept: Binocular Redundancy.

The term 'binocular redundancy' might ring a bell. In essence, it describes the idea that while one eye is already adequate for seeing the world, the second eye enriches our vision, offering depth and a wider field of view. This means that one eye is enough to see colors normally. This leads to an intriguing fact: each eye operates independently. We could even say that each eye is a separate visual organ. They capture their unique views, and it's only in the brain where these two perspectives merge, crafting the unified image we experience.

This concept of two eyes operating independently holds the key to unlock our potential for hexachromacy. With the right blend of ingenuity and state-of-the-art technology, we can tap into this natural visual separation, opening doors to a world of colors and visual detail far beyond the ordinary; in both quality and quantity.

Stay with me as we delve deeper into this exciting territory, and together, let's redefine the boundaries of human color perception.

Understanding Human Hexachromacy

And this being said: Hello there, I'm Ooqui (Kilian-Roy Lachner). Today, I want to introduce you to the potential for humans to become hexachromats by intelligently and strategically breaking binocular redundancy. This will allow us to distinguish between an incredibly huge amount of new unique color experiences that are the result of impossibly combining different basic colors, resulting in the perception of new and distinct colors.

To understand this journey, we need to first grasp how our eyes perceive colors. In each of our eyes, there are three primary cones responsible for detecting colors: red, green, and blue. Even though both eyes seem to work in harmony, presenting us with a unified picture, it's essential to remember that they operate independently. Closing one eye still leaves us with the ability to see colors normally as color vision remains unaltered.

Now, here's a revelation: when you consider each eye separately, you can categorize each of the three cones based on their location, left or right eye. This gives us red left, red right, green left, green right, blue left, and blue right - a total of six distinct cones. This seemingly self-evident knowledge is the key to realizing the potential for human hexachromacy.

A Spectrum within a Spectrum: “Color in Color”

You might now think: "Red is just red, right?" Under normal conditions, yes. But with our understanding of the six distinct cones, we can explore how combining these cones can produce different shades of a single color. Let me illustrate this with an experiment, taking in pure red as an example.

Before you are six identical shades of red.

When introducing 'impossible color combinations', these shades transform remarkably. To see what I mean, cross your eyes to overlap the six reds on the left with these six different colors on the right. By doing this, you've just witnessed six distinct variations of red: red/red, yellow/red, green/red, cyan/red, blue/red, and magenta/red.

These 'impossible colors' aren't just a normal blend of the two combined shades. All of these colors are unique from their compound colors.

I can prove this statement by showing you a pure red, a yellow/red and a pure yellow side-by-side. The yellow/red is visibly different from both the red and yellow. Not only that, while traditionally mixing red and yellow gives us orange, the impossible yellow/red combination is distinctly different, too. To validate this, compare the standard orange ring in the image to the impossible yellow/red, and witness the variance.

Here's another way to visualize how different the impossible color combinations are from their normal color combinations.

The Self-Combination: “Color in Value”

Taking our exploration a notch higher, let's experiment with singular pure colors. Instead of just combining two different pure colors, how about combining a single color with its own variants? Imagine impossibly merging the same red hue, but with different brightness levels.

This results, for example, in shades like red/red, grayish-red/red, medium-red/red, dark-red/red, black/red, and light-red/red. At a glance, these all seem like simple reds, yet each red distinctly stands apart from the other reds as well as the mixed in variation of red with different saturation and brightness levels.

When we look at these impossible hue, saturation and brightness combinations of red, a singular hue of red becomes a palette of its own, presenting a spectrum of distinct 'reds'. Despite the differences, they all resonate with the identity of this initial singular pure red, and thus can be identified as its variations.

The phenomenon we observed with red isn't unique to this specific color; every basic color holds this potential. Considering the vast amount of combinations possible on a typical screen, we can create about 8 million impossible colors for each basic color we see (and that's already excluding color doubles).

To illustrate the sheer magnitude of the number I've just hinted at, here's a perspective: On a standard screen, we can discern about 16 million individual colors. Multiply this amount by the 8 million impossible variations, and we arrive at a staggering number of about 140 trillion impossible colors. Trying to visualize this number is mind-boggling.

Imagine a single dot representing every basic color visible to the naked eye.

Now, downsize this dot to a pixel and multiply it by 8 million. At this point, the screen seems just white, but it's filled with dots, so densely packed that even a screen with a resolution of 1920 by 1080, which is roughly 2 million pixels, doesn’t suffice to display them all. That's the colossal scale we're talking about!

Defining the Two Core Concepts

Let's simplify the complex techniques I've presented here into two digestible concepts.

Color in Color

This is mixing two different colors of the same brightness level, like a pure red and a pure yellow. However, mix them not by blending, but by layering them by crossing your eyes.

Color in Value

Picture two shades of the same hue, like two blues. One's deep and rich; the other's light and breezy. Now, layer these two colors of different brightness levels by crossing your eyes, without altering the core blue.

Merge these two concepts, and the color possibilities expand exponentially.

A Way to Think About ‘Impossible Colors’

A fascinating way to visualize the differences of impossible colors to basic colors is by using this template that you've already seen.

Picture two colors, one at the top and another at the bottom. These are our compound colors, and they remain the same on both the left and right sides of our template. The center of our construction, where these two colors meet, is where the magic happens - this is where the impossible color comes to life.

You'll notice two dots in our template. These aren't just random; they're essential for stabilizing your vision. Surrounding these dots is a color, which is what you'd see if you mixed our compound colors in the usual way.

Now, for the fun part! Try crossing your eyes so that the dots on the left and right overlap. If done correctly, you should now see three dots in total.

Once your eyes are aligned, even if it feels a little wobbly or the color seems to shift, you'll observe something incredible. The middle color, our 'impossible color', should pop out as distinct from the other two colors. Yes, sometimes this impossible color might look a bit like the color you'd get from mixing the two compounds normally, as seen surrounding our white dots. But you can definitely spot the difference and appreciate each shade for its uniqueness, even if the colors are as close to each other as in the example of Verd (an impossible combination of Vermillion and Red).

The laterality of Impossible Colors

One remarkable aspect of this technique is how it reveals that seemingly the same impossible color can create visible differences when viewed locally inverted. Even if both colors are essentially the same your eyes can pick up the distinctions.

Now to illustrate this, let's tweak our previous template a bit. Instead of the natural mix we discussed earlier, imagine the two dots colored in the opposite compound color. When you cross your eyes with this setup, a notable distinction emerges.

Although the central impossible color circling our dots and the surrounding impossible color are technically the same, they are distinct enough to create a visible edge. You'll observe a clear difference between the two, even if they're essentially made from the same two basic colors. This means that while in isolation they would look identical, in context you can make a distinction.

In essence, this is the charm of impossible colors. They challenge our perception, pushing the boundaries of what our eyes can see and understand. And this is just a little foretaste of the vast world of impossible colors that's just waiting to be explored!

My VR application 'Color in Color'

All of these revelations lead to the development of my virtual reality application, Color in Color. With it, we can easily integrate all impossible color combinations into our vision, incredibly augmenting our color vision.

If you've previously wondered about the name of my application, now it should make sense. 'Color in Color' perfectly captures the essence of this new intertwined color vision.

So, there are about 140 trillion unique impossible colors? It's already hard to wrap our heads around this amount. And presenting them all at once on one screen? Near impossible. Yet, even tapping into a tiny slice of this vast palette can revolutionize the way we perceive color.

My application Color in Color is designed to realize this color potential. For those keen to dive deeper, I've made a couple of dedicated videos on it. More will follow, delving deeper into the intricate workings of the app.

Until the application is fully developed, let's explore a snapshot of how "Color in Color" transforms our visual experience. Since this isn't VR ensure you cross your eyes to truly experience these intriguing color combinations as intended.

Exploring the Vermillion-Red Gradient with Impossible Colors

While showcasing all 100 trillion impossible colors might be an ambitious task, visualizing just a fraction can already convey the magnitude of the color enhancement we can achieve.

Take a moment to observe this image with a vermillion (i.e. a red-orange) gradient transitioning into a red background. To our unenhanced eyes the colors and their transitions appear familiar. We can seemingly identify the differences between most of these basic shades easily, though it gets more difficult the more vermillion closes into red. But what if we could see more?

Now, let's integrate a tiny fraction of the possible impossible color combinations using my application Color in Color, compressing them into our vermillion-red gradient. Instantly, the scene transforms.

With this enhanced vision, which approximates pentachromacy (color vision with 5 distinct cone types), the colors — the original colors now appear almost identical in hindsight — burst into vivid uniqueness. Our once simple vermillion-red gradient explodes into a spectrum of intricate hues. Identifying any individual color within this gradient becomes almost effortless.

While we can add countless more impossible colors into this gradient this small glimpse should paint a clear picture of their potential.

Let's take another look at our vermillion-red gradient, this time with just the concept of Color in Value applied, which is a mode of my Color in Color application.

Here, regardless of its chromaticity, every color with the same brightness level appears identical.

But what happens when we adjust the original image a little bit and change the saturation and brightness level of vermillion like this?

The effect is that differences in brightness levels pop, giving you sharper clarity in detecting them. Instead of horizontal additions, colors are injected vertically, emphasizing the brightness contrasts.

Now, observe the image once again, blending both the Color in Color and Color in Value modes to create a single mode. The result is that each shade stands out far more distinctly than before; horizontally and vertically. This amplified palette, which greatly enriches our color discernment, is merely a teaser of the potential of impossible color combinations.

Let's revisit our slightly modified image for a final time. This time, the left eye perceives the Color in Color mode, while the right sees the Color in Value mode. There's a trade-off to this binocular combination because we are no longer able to identify the original colors. Yet, we unlock a lot more impossible color combinations by simultaneously perceiving the two modes.

For now, I'll rest with this example, but remember this: our world is painted with colors. Realizing the implications of these color concepts, made possible by my application Color in Color, is monumental. If we get this right, it’s not just an upgrade; it could redefine human vision permanently. As beings reliant primarily on sight, our daily experiences are intrinsically tied to color. Perceiving 8 million times the colors we know is virtually indescribable to someone who’s never seen anything similar before. From paintings and movies to games, from medicical diagnosis to chemsitry, from art to mixing paint, and from astronomy to the night sky, and so much more – our interaction with visual media and the visual world will be revolutionized. The patterns, nuances, and details we can discern with the integration of impossible colors into our color vision are almost surreal to think about, and even more fantastic once you’re actually perceiving all these impossible colors for yourself.

Closing Words

The realm of color vision is far more vast and intricate than we often give it credit for. The immensely enhanced color vision that we’ve experienced today, though still just a tiny fraction of what is actually possible, results in a world of hexachromatic glory; technically, practically and literally speaking. Though naturally not the same as a real, functional hexachromat would see the world of color, but similar enough to call it hexachromacy.

Concepts like Color in Color and Color in Value have shown us layers of perception previously thought impossible, challenging our basic understanding of color. By implementing this complex interplay between hue, saturation and brightness into our vision, and making use of the combined might of both eyes by breaking binocular redundancy, we're not just adding colors to a palette – we're revolutionizing the canvas itself.

My application Color in Color serves as a tool that enables us to look into and see with this expanded universe of color, with the opportunity to transform everything visually. From art and media to the simplest everyday sights, the potential is incredible. As we stand before this visual revolution, it becomes clear that human vision, ever so intricate in even its natural form, still is but a tiny fraction of what can actually be seen.

So, stay tuned in order to fetch new ways to experience life.

I am Ooqui, and I will show you how to reshape and enhance your sensory experiences, because it is nothing but our senses that connect us to this world.

Thanks for reading!

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse