Is It Blue Or Green? Explore Your Colour Vision With This Engaging Test

We all recognise various shades of blue and green, but where exactly blue ends and green begins? To understand this, Dr Patrick Mineault, a neuroscience and AI researcher, created a viral test called ‘Is My Blue Your Blue?’ or ismy.blue. The new visual challenge shows participants a series of shades, asking them to identify if it is blue or green. As the colours become similar, users are asked to click one of two buttons, ‘This is blue’ or ‘This is green.’

As the test progresses, the colours become more similar and at the end, the test compares your perception with others around the world. The idea for this innovative challenge originated from a debate Dr Mineault had with his wife over the colour of their blanket, which he insists is green while she believes it is blue.

Speaking with the Guardian, the researcher said, “I’m a visual neuroscientist, and my wife, Dr Marisse Masis-Solano, is an ophthalmologist. We have this argument about a blanket in our house. I think it’s unambiguously green and she thinks it’s unambiguously blue.” Using his programming skills and access to AI tools, he built this simple yet intriguing colour test to understand people’s perspective.

Dr Patrick Mineault further added, “I added this feature, which shows you the distribution and that really clicked with people. ‘Do we see the same colours?’ is a question philosophers and scientists – everyone really – have asked themselves for thousands of years. People’s perceptions are ineffable, and it’s interesting to think that we have different views.”

According to Julie Harris, a psychology professor at the University of St Andrews, our brains are designed to recognise colours through special cells in our eyes called cones. However, naming those colours or remembering them is a more complex task. The professor further points out that recognising and labelling colours requires deeper thinking and is influenced by our experiences. This means that while we can easily see and identify colours, how we name and remember them can be shaped by what we have learned and how we have interacted with colours before.

Since ismy.blue’s launch in August, the site has attracted over 1.5 million visitors. Dr Patrick Mineault, who created the test, is not shocked by the response. He believes that people are curious about how others view colours and the world around them.