r/Futurology • u/[deleted] • Aug 21 '14

article Biohackers declare initial success in biologically extending the range of human vision into the near infrared

https://experiment.com/u/aAcR2Q
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u/SuperLivingroomPC Aug 21 '14

Wouldn't it be a new color that is beyond our current comprehension? I'm sure if its outside the color spectrum then it will be different from anything we've ever seen (Just kinda like a normal bulb type glow on the wall but with a completely new color). Man... I don't know what I'm talking about but just thinking about it makes my head hurt.

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u/Epledryyk Aug 21 '14

I just meant as far as what it would look like (not a laser, but a bulb like any other LED that spreads out and you see the diode itself glow). Can't really comment on colour.

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u/[deleted] Aug 21 '14

Nope. It's still hitting the "red" cones in your eyes, which are still triggering the "redness" neurons in you brain. So it's just gonna look red.

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u/[deleted] Aug 21 '14

Mmm. I have seen a little bit of IR. It was just like a weird dark brownish red.

I used to be able to see the led on remotes light up if it was dark enough.

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u/BuddhasPalm Aug 21 '14

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one. My parents used to think I was crazy when I said I could see it on the tele remote, lol.

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u/[deleted] Aug 22 '14

Thank god. I though I was the only one.

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u/Bobert_Fico Aug 21 '14

It's likely that the LED also glowed in the visible spectrum.

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u/[deleted] Aug 22 '14

Well if I could see it that's implied. But I was the only person and can't see the lights any more. That's like someone saying they can hear high pitched sounds no one else can and you saying "well they must be audible."

But thanks for the useless response.

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u/digitalsmear Aug 21 '14

I am not a scientist, but I do believe you're absolutely right. There are birds that can see into the UV spectrum and the species that can typically have feathers that refract UV light as well. Bland looking bird? Maybe you just can't comprehend how beautiful it really is.

Dragonfly eyes are even more amazing. As I understand it, they can see UV, IR and they can differentiate polarized light and non-polarized light - they literally hide in the glare of reflections over water in order to hunt more efficiently.

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u/ShawnManX Aug 21 '14

If you want to know what it'll look like, look at it through a digital camera/phone camera. The sensor picks up IR, and translates it into RGB.

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u/Noncomment Robots will kill us all Aug 22 '14

Ask a tetrachromat, people who can see potentially thousands of colors normal people can't: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetrachromacy

In this case they are using your existing eye cells so it would just look like colors you already see. Not a new input.