From the sky to the sea, there are several things on Earth that we all know to be blue.
But where does blue end and green begin?
In the hopes of answering this question, Dr Patrick Mineault, a neuroscience and AI researcher, has developed a new test.
The test, titled ‘Is my blue your blue?’ shows a series of different shades, and simply asks whether you think each is blue or green.
So, how does your colour perception compare to the rest of the population?
During the test, you’ll be shown a series of six shades and asked to click on one of two buttons – ‘This is blue’, or ‘This is green’.
‘Colours are often represented in HSL (hue, saturation, lightness) color space,’ Dr Mineault explained.
‘Hue 120 is green, and hue 240 is blue. The test focuses on blue-green hues between 150 and 210.’
At the end of the test, you’ll be shown where your blue-green boundary sits, and how it compares to the rest of the population.
‘In early experiments, we found that people’s responses cluster around 175, which coincidentally is the same as the named HTML color turquoise,’ Dr Mineault said.
‘This is interesting, because the nominal boundary between blue and green is at 180, the named HTML color cyan.
During the test , you’ll be shown a series of six shades and asked to click on one of two buttons – ‘This is blue’, or ‘This is green’
At the end of the test, you’ll be shown where your blue-green boundary sits, and how it compares to the rest of the population
‘That means most people’s boundaries are shifted toward saying that cyan is blue.’
MailOnline’s Shivali Best took the test and found that her boundary was 176.
‘Your boundary is at hue 176, bluer than 75% of the population. For you, turquoise is green,’ the test tells me.
While we all learn the basic colours as children, Dr Mineault explains that colour perception is ‘tricky to measure.’
‘Vision scientists use specialized calibrated equipment to color perception,’ he said.
‘Graphic designers use physical color cards, such as those made by Pantone, so that they can communicate colors unambiguously.
‘Here we use your monitor or phone to test how you categorize colors.’
Dr Mineault highlights that the test is ‘far from perfect’, since the calibration of monitors and screens may be different.
MailOnline’s Shivali Best took the test and found that her boundary was 176. ‘Your boundary is at hue 176, bluer than 75% of the population. For you, turquoise is green,’ the test tells me
‘The validity of the inference is limited by the calibration of your monitor, ambient lighting, and filters such as night mode,’ he added.
‘Despite these limitations, the results should have good test-retest reliability on the same device, in the same ambient light, which you can verify by taking the test multiple times.’
If you get very different results to your friends, don’t panic.
‘Getting outlier results doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with your vision,’ Dr Mineault explained.
‘It might mean you have an idiosyncratic way of naming colors, or that your monitor and lighting is unusual.’
At the end of the test, you’ll be given the option to submit your answers anonymously so that researchers can aggregate them for further research.
Dr Mineault reassured: ‘We don’t store any information that would identify you personally.’
