Modern Mysteries

Woman with 'superpower' can see 100 million colors

By T.K. Randall
January 31, 2022

Image: AI-generated (Midjourney) For much of her life, Antico didn't realize that there was anything special about her vision.

Around ten years ago, however, she discovered that the incredibly rich coloration of the world around her was a spectacle not shared with the rest of the population - it was a special and unique gift.

Antico is what is known as a tetrachromat, which means that her retinas have four color receptors instead of the normal three, enabling her to see 100 million colors (as oppose to 1 million.)

This remarkable psychedelic view enables her to see subtle colors in everyday things and has heavily influenced her art, her personal style and just about everything else about her life."It's not just an affectation and it's not artistic licence," she said of her art.

"I'm actually painting exactly what I see. If it's a pink flower and then all of a sudden you see a bit of lilac or blue, I actually saw that."

"I didn't know I was not experiencing the world like other people were. For me, the world was just really very colourful. It's kind of like, you don't know you're a zebra unless you're not a zebra."

"I always felt like I was living in a very magical world. I know children say that, but for me, it was like everything was hyper-wonderful, hyper-different. I was always exploring into nature, delving and trying to see the intricacies, because I'd see so much more detail in everything. "


Source: The Guardian

Tags: Color, Eyes