What is the Tetrachromacy?

For Concetta Antico, the night sky colored sapphire and violet. A pink rose looks golden and blue sky, while the rocky path looks like a rainbow of colors of orange, yellow, green, blue, and red pale.

A tiny group of people can see ‘invisible’ colours that no-one else can perceive. How do they do it? (Picture from: http://bbc.in/1tvVPJ7)

Antico have "super vision" or Tetrachromacy, a rare genetic condition that makes her able to see nearly 100 million colors. Her vision is extraordinary when compared with normal eyes can only see about 1 million colors.

Super vision is actually not uncommon in animals. Some species of birds chose their partners based on subtle color differences on the coat, while the insect is able to see the color of the reflected wavelengths of interest. It is estimated, this condition can only affect one percent of human. "I see a more nuanced shades and a lot of color in dim light," said Antico.

Tetrachromat women see shades that other think are monotone. (Picture from: http://bbc.in/1tvVPJ7)

"If me and you see the leaves, I might see the color magenta on the edge of the leaf or turquoise color in some parts when you just see it as a dark green color. When the lights create a shadow on the wall, I saw the violet color, lavender and turquoise. You may only see shades of gray," she said.

Shortly, Antico see the world in different forms to most people. As a child, a woman who lives in Australia knows that she has a unique perspective. At the age of 7 years old, she painted over works of Cezanne, Van Gogh, and Monet with oil paint.

Comparing Antico’s painting with the original scene could give a hint of the extra shades she is seeing. (Picture from: http://bbc.in/1tvVPJ7)

Currently, she works as a painter and art instructor at San Diego, where she lived with her husband, Jason Pizzinat. Colors that she saw on the flora and fauna in southern California make her color palette wider.

Antico voluntarily willing to volunteer for scientific studies, hoping that the research on her to provide a better understanding of color blindness, which affects to the vision of her 12-year-old daughter.

However, her son wasn't experienced this mutation. Color blindness can be caused by the same genetic mutation, as tetrachromacy. "I want everyone to realize how beautiful this world," she added.

Although Antico increased her visual experience, there is a drawback of this capability, ie the sensor becomes excessive. "When I woke up, I looked out the window for a while because I see all the colors in the outdoors. I saw all the colors in the wood floor when walking to the bathroom. I am aware of all the colors in the toothpaste. As I descended the stairs, a bowl of fruit looked very colorful," she said.

The supermarkets also seems to be a "nightmare" for Antico. There, goods, both vegetables, fruits, and other products look very colorful for her. "It was like an attack by color," she said. Therefore, Antico revealed that her favorite color is white. "(White) is very soothing and peaceful for my eyes." *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | BBC | NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC INDONESIA]

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