If you’ve ever tried on clothing at a store only to have it look completely different at home, you know how much our eyes depend on lighting to help us see colors.

We also all interpret colors a little differently, even with the same lighting.

Remember the social media controversy over the color of a dress that everyone seemed to have a different opinion on? That’s a lighthearted example of how illumination can affect the things we see. But this is serious science. How our eyes see color under different conditions can affect such things as how health professionals read medical imaging scans.

NIST researchers Yoshi Ohno and Jane Li study how LED lights affect our perception of color. Their research could someday inspire new international standards for the color quality of the lighting we use every day.

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