This is an experimental exercise designed to begin our exploration of the interaction between the real and the virtual worlds. In the perfect digital universe, all colors perceived by the human eye can be closely replicated by varying the R:G:B values that control the monitor output. If we call 0 minimum intensity for a channel, and 255 maximum intensity we wind up with the ability to represent two to the twenty fourth power different colors, AKA 24bit color, AKA True Color, or 16,777,216 colors.

Since our servers disk space is finite, the following experiment was conceived. Let us replicate a close approximation of a rainbow as observed on a rainy day. We have chosen to represent wavelengths ranging from 380nm (Violet) to 645nm (Red). Do you remember from junior high science ROY G BIV, or perhaps your science teacher was a science fiction buff and told you about the Martian named VIBGYOR (Pronounced Vib-Ge-Or)?

Using accepted methods for converting from wavelengths in nm's to R:G:B values, we have created 266 images (Each 2 pixels wide and 100 pixels tall). When these images are laid side by side using the appropriate HTML code, the resulting image shows a very nice approximation to the visible rainbow we are all so familiar with.

This rainbow is a little more than a pretty picture! The experiment was to aim a fiber-optic spectrometer (specifically an OceanOptics S2000) at each individual color one at a time acquiring a real spectrum from the monitor! As you pass your cursor over the rainbow, you will note that each color links to a corresponding image of the acquired spectrum. In order to maintain the R:G:B values of the linked images, they were generated in a true color format, in this case Windows BMP format. The X-Axis in the linked images is marked in nm, and the Y-Axis is normalized intensity (values between 0 and 600) across all 266 files. The title of each graph shows Wavelength in nm's and R:G:B values. Also included in the top right hand corner of the graph is a patch of the specific color in question. The specific monitor used for this experiment was a Dell M780 on ATI Rage Pro (atir3), display properties were set to True Color at 1024 by 768 pixels. Some musicians have perfect pitch, see if you have perfect frequency.....try to locate the additive primaries (Namely Red R:G:B = 255:0:0, Green R:G:B = 0:255:0, and Blue R:G:B = 0:0:255).

We admit that cuban coffee did play a nontrivial role in the execution of this experiment, but rest assured that we have a very good reason for acquiring this data. For now, you will have to take our word for it and wait for the posting of the next phase of this experiment.

While you are waiting you may want to take a look at the VRML color cube! If you are interested in having one of these for your office or classroom check out http://www.colorcube.com! After getting one of these 3D puzzles for a demonstration, we were motivated to build our virtual model. Internet Explorer 6.0.26 seems to come bundled with VRML support, or you can go find a VRML plugin for you browser here.

The color cube is a graphic representation of one of the colorspace models used to visualize a color system. The color cube is pretty nifty. This one is broken up into four planes, each plane has four columns and four rows.

The color cube specifies colors using Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow (C:M:Y). The beauty of a VRML model is that objects in the scene can be linked to files the same way words are linked in an HTML file. Hence since we had the S2000 spectrometer already fired up, we thought it would be nice to acquire spectra for the colors represented in the cube. When you are viewing the cube in your VRML viewer, you will note that as you pass your cursor over the individual boxes, you will see the R:G:B and C:M:Y values displayed in the status bar in the bottom of your browser. If you click on one of the boxes, you will link to the picture depicting the spectrometer run for the specific color!