We all know the phenomenon of the so called black and blue or white and gold dress. In fact this dress probably reached every region of the US within minutes of its release into the social media world via twitter… At first glance, while procrastinating doing my calc homework, I saw the dress to be white and gold. However, later I checked back, and saw black and blue… So, what color is the dress? And, well, more importantly, what is color and how is it perceived in the eye (and then we can get into the nitty gritty of this phenomenon!!!).

When looking at the structure of the eye, we first have the cornea, or a clear membrane that surrounds the surface of the eye. According to John Wede’s lecture 7 on the Visual System, when our eye absorbs an image, it must first come from a source, whether it be direct or indirect, it is launched from the sun, surrounding objects, etc… it is key that the light coming in is focused, and this exactly what the cornea’s job is. In order to be focused, the light is “bent” through a process called refraction. After it passes through the cornea, the light then enters the pupil, which is located inside of the iris. The iris also serves a purpose in focusing the light coming into the eye as it changes the size of the pupil. This occurs when we are exposed to different levels of light, the higher the intensity or amplitude of the light, the brighter it will be, which will make our pupils much smaller, and vice versa. This process is called Visual Accomodation. The final step is the retina, which creates action potentials and allows us to see what is actually being projected! The retina acts as a “receptor to the brain”, which makes it the most important part of the eye allowing us to see (Wede). The retina also contains rods and cones.  According to this article, “Rods are more sensitive to light, but see shapes and not color. Cones are sensitive to color, but less sensitive to light — i.e. in darker conditions, you’re seeing more with rods than cones” (Mills). Basically, people are born with different amounts of rods and cones, which allows us to perceive colors in a different way. 

So, what about the eye and structure of the eye relates to this dress phenomenon? Well, it’s key to note that “color does not exist in reality, it comes from how our brain interprets it” (Wede)… In fact according to this article written in USA Today, “Individual wavelengths don’t have color, it’s how our brains interpret the wavelengths that create color” (Grisham). Color is such a loosely defined thing, and it lies within the brain to interpret what we see and how we see it. Another point Wede makes in his lecture is that it depends on what an object is surrounded by and the context is lies within. According to this article, third variables play a great roll in why some interpret the dress to be blue over gold, such as lighting, amplitude or intensity of the light, and more, “In the case of this dress, it is photographed so close up that we don’t actually know its surrounding environment, so our brain starts to make interpretations about the light falling on it. If people envisage that it’s located in, say, a room lit by blueish natural daylight, perhaps near a window, they may see it as white and yellow because our brain tries to remove the blue as a possible shadow. Alternatively, some may picture it under artificial lights, like those found in shops, and so they see it as blue, which is indeed the true color of the dress. Still, it’s not entirely clear what it is about the colors of the dress and the lighting that cause it to hit a sweet spot that divides the community so drastically” (Luntz). Luntz makes a very accurate point and definitely does an effective job in pointing out the possible third variables at play. According to another article written in ABCNews, previous experience also plays a tremendous roll in determining how we perceive light, “Colors can appear different depending on what they’re near and the memory and past experiences of the beholder” (Lupkin). Clearly, third variables such as experience, surroundings, and contexts play a huge roll in how we see things.

So, now that I know that the dress is actually blue and black, but at first saw it as white and gold, does that mean I am colorblind? Nope. You are definitely fine (that is ofcourse if not diagnosed otherwise). It is important to note that third variables play a tremendous roll in how our mind reads things and how we view the world around us, as well as the amount of cones and rods in our retina. If there is any other big thing to take away from this post; it’s that color is not real, rather it lies within our brains to interpret and distinguish one from the other.

image: http://mashable.com/2015/02/26/dress-white-gold-blue-black/#C8FupVZnY8qJ