How a computer scientist is rethinking color theory

BENEATH A CLEAR SKY and a high sun, a regular human eye can see nearly the entire visible color spectrum. Remove direct sunlight, and a reflection offers only a sliver of the rainbow. But despite darkness distorting our points of reference, we can still determine color in shadow. Many factors influence the hues we detect: our eyes, our brains, the air, objects the light bounces from, Earth’s geometry, and even our visual memories.

Trying to replicate that breadth and sensitivity to color on a computer monitor or printer is both a nightmare and a dream for technologists. And…