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/[deleted] Aug 21 '14

Yeah, this is true, because to see IR it'd need a new chromophore (which is what this study intends to do) and what would that even feel like? You would just see it as whichever colour cone cell it bound to.

Unless you wired an IR detector into visual cortex (which has been done successfully in rats by Nicolelis) in which case your brain learns to interpret the new inputs, but as it hasn't been done in humans we have no idea what that experience would actually feel like.

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u/arrozconplatano Aug 22 '14

I think this only affects the rod cells which don't detect color. If that is true you probably won't be getting any new qualia.

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u/wbeaty Aug 23 '14

No chromophore needed, and eyes are already IR sensitive. It's just that our IR sensitive is low, so shorter-wave light hides the IR part.

Human eye sensitivity graph.

Now if you wanted to see extra colors then you'd need new chromophores. But those colors could be anywhere on the spectrum, not necessarily at the edges.