Talk:XO colors

How were these colors arrived at? I'm curious because there are some that are very close together (EG, BCCEFF and BCCDFF). When you look at just the luminance (for evaluating distinguishability for colorblind people or on a b/w screen), there is even more clustering, with most adjacent colors (ordered by luminance) differing by <2%.

Evenly spacing 20 colors along the luminance spectrum would provide a set of much more distinguishable colors (5% difference in luminance between adjacent colors). Using a 8/21 rotation around the hues (all with 100% saturation) can give fairly distinguishable colors. That could be further improved by either varying saturation, increasing the hue rotation at the extremes of luminance (and decreasing toward the middle), or any of a number of other means. —Greg

I also noticed the BCCEFF/BCCDFF similarity... I assume it is a typo in the code. I believe the pairs were arrived at by hand-matching color swatches for pairs that "looked good" together (based on a recollection of a photograph of a wall with color pairs on it). Note that these colors are only used to form the color pairs for user logos, and that while these logos are used to distinguish users, there are additional ways to distinguish them (by name, at the least). Which is a good thing, because with only several hundred pairs, it is statistically probable that a class of around 20 students will have a duplicate color pair. Also note that while some colors are close together in luminance, it's possible that the other color in their respective pairs may be sufficiently different to distinguish them. The OLPC people are aware of the value (ahem) of using luminance-spaced colors in their interface, especially given the XO's additional monochromatic screen mode. —Joe 00:22, 7 December 2007 (EST)

I thought that OLPC was making a point to not deliver duplicate color pairs to any single school (Why are the Xs and Os different colors on each XO laptop? – the random selection (and hence the birthday paradox) only applies to the laptops sent to the US and Canada). And while their 27 colors can probably make 400 easily recognizable pairs, I don't think they have any chance of being recognized in the b/w mode. Mousing over everyone in the neighborhood to find a particular friend's name seems a bit tedious (but I don't have my XO yet, so I can't be sure). The need is not to distinguish between the two colors in the pair (when both colors are the same, that's probably more recognizable, sinc those would be relatively rare), but to make sure that no two people share the same combination of stroke and fill colors (or luminance, which is more likely to be a problem). —Greg 03:34, 7 December 2007 (EST)

Reading the article I had thought that what was being discussed was the exterior logo -- the factory-applied X and O on the outside of the case. Reading this discussion page, I'm confused, because it seems like what's being discussed is the screen logo icon of neighboring XO's that appear in your mesh view. Which one is it? Or are they linked? (That would be superb: if the icon for your XO that appears in your friends' mesh view matches your exterior case logo, you'd be able to look around the room to spot who was doing what.)

Yes, this article currently applies only to the color pairs in the user icon (hence the link to the source code). I don't know if the same color pairs are used on the case, but to my knowledge there is no predefined link between the colors on the case and the colors in the interface; the case colors are assigned at the factory, while the interface colors are chosen at random when the user starts the laptop for the first time. Of course, the user can cycle through the color pairs until they find one they like (or change it later), and that pair could be similar to the one on the case, but it doesn't have to be. Doubtlessly this will cause some momentary confusion, which may or may not be helped by the fact that the icons for the case and interface are colored in different ways: the "head" and "body" are different colors on the case, while in the interface the entire shape is filled with one color, then outlined with the other. —Joe 09:48, 7 December 2007 (EST)

Oops, I thought they were linked. I know that I got to choose the colors on my VM, but I figured that was only because I didn't have an XO laptop. So, then I'm guessing that I'm blurring two things here: 1, the case colors will not be duplicated for a school with no more than 400 students, and 2, there can easily be duplicated icon colors for students within a class since they choose their own. This is a little disappointing. I had this image in my head of a student seeing someone else across a courtyard, and sharing something with them just by finding the icon that matched the other student's case. Not a big deal, though. —Greg 17:20, 7 December 2007 (EST)

xocolor.py

Although it appears to be a list of 120 random selected combinations, After sorting and analysis, there's some duplication, and non-deversity. Seeing the code at the end of the python page. Looks like it could be seeded by another file.

Here's the current list sorted, grouped by fill color, does your own list look the same?

['#00588C', '#00A0FF'], \
['#00588C', '#00EA11'], \
['#00588C', '#AC32FF'], \
['#00588C', '#F8E800'], \
['#00588C', '#FF2B34'], \
['#00588C', '#FF8F00'], \

['#005FE4', '#00A0FF'], \
['#005FE4', '#00EA11'], \
['#005FE4', '#AC32FF'], \
['#005FE4', '#FF2B34'], \
['#005FE4', '#FF8F00'], \

['#008009', '#00A0FF'], \
['#008009', '#00EA11'], \
['#008009', '#AC32FF'], \
['#008009', '#F8E800'], \
['#008009', '#FF2B34'], \
['#008009', '#FF8F00'], \

['#00A0FF', '#00588C'], \
['#00A0FF', '#005FE4'], \
['#00A0FF', '#008009'], \
['#00A0FF', '#00B20D'], \
['#00A0FF', '#5E008C'], \
['#00A0FF', '#807500'], \
['#00A0FF', '#9900E6'], \
['#00A0FF', '#9A5200'], \
['#00A0FF', '#B20008'], \
['#00A0FF', '#BE9E00'], \
['#00A0FF', '#F8E800'], \
['#00A0FF', '#FF2B34'], \
['#00A0FF', '#FF8F00'], \

['#00B20D', '#00A0FF'], \
['#00B20D', '#00EA11'], \
['#00B20D', '#AC32FF'], \
['#00B20D', '#FF2B34'], \
['#00B20D', '#FF8F00'], \

['#00EA11', '#00588C'], \
['#00EA11', '#005FE4'], \
['#00EA11', '#008009'], \
['#00EA11', '#00B20D'], \
['#00EA11', '#5E008C'], \
['#00EA11', '#7F00BF'], \
['#00EA11', '#807500'], \
['#00EA11', '#9A5200'], \
['#00EA11', '#B20008'], \
['#00EA11', '#BE9E00'], \
['#00EA11', '#F8E800'], \
['#00EA11', '#FF2B34'], \
['#00EA11', '#FF8F00'], \

['#5E008C', '#00A0FF'], \
['#5E008C', '#00EA11'], \
['#5E008C', '#AC32FF'], \
['#5E008C', '#F8E800'], \
['#5E008C', '#FF2B34'], \
['#5E008C', '#FF8F00'], \

['#7F00BF', '#00EA11'], \
['#7F00BF', '#AC32FF'], \
['#7F00BF', '#FF2B34'], \

['#807500', '#00A0FF'], \
['#807500', '#00EA11'], \
['#807500', '#AC32FF'], \
['#807500', '#F8E800'], \
['#807500', '#FF2B34'], \
['#807500', '#FF8F00'], \

['#8BFF7A', '#00A0FF'], \
['#8BFF7A', '#00EA11'], \
['#8BFF7A', '#AC32FF'], \
['#8BFF7A', '#F8E800'], \
['#8BFF7A', '#FF2B34'], \
['#8BFF7A', '#FF8F00'], \

['#9900E6', '#00A0FF'], \

['#9A5200', '#00A0FF'], \
['#9A5200', '#00EA11'], \
['#9A5200', '#AC32FF'], \
['#9A5200', '#F8E800'], \
['#9A5200', '#FF2B34'], \
['#9A5200', '#FF8F00'], \

['#A700FF', '#FF8F00'], \

['#AC32FF', '#00588C'], \
['#AC32FF', '#005FE4'], \
['#AC32FF', '#008009'], \
['#AC32FF', '#00B20D'], \
['#AC32FF', '#5E008C'], \
['#AC32FF', '#7F00BF'], \
['#AC32FF', '#807500'], \
['#AC32FF', '#9A5200'], \
['#AC32FF', '#B20008'], \
['#AC32FF', '#BE9E00'], \
['#AC32FF', '#F8E800'], \
['#AC32FF', '#FF2B34'], \
['#AC32FF', '#FF8F00'], \

['#B20008', '#00A0FF'], \
['#B20008', '#00EA11'], \
['#B20008', '#AC32FF'], \
['#B20008', '#F8E800'], \
['#B20008', '#FF2B34'], \
['#B20008', '#FF8F00'], \

['#BCCDFF', '#00A0FF'], \
['#BCCDFF', '#00EA11'], \
['#BCCDFF', '#AC32FF'], \
['#BCCDFF', '#FF2B34'], \
['#BCCDFF', '#FF8F00'], \
['#BCCEFF', '#F8E800'], \

['#BE9E00', '#00A0FF'], \
['#BE9E00', '#00EA11'], \
['#BE9E00', '#AC32FF'], \
['#BE9E00', '#F8E800'], \
['#BE9E00', '#FF2B34'], \
['#BE9E00', '#FF8F00'], \

['#C97E00', '#FF8F00'], \

['#D1A3FF', '#00A0FF'], \
['#D1A3FF', '#00EA11'], \
['#D1A3FF', '#AC32FF'], \
['#D1A3FF', '#F8E800'], \
['#D1A3FF', '#FF2B34'], \
['#D1A3FF', '#FF8F00'], \

['#E6000A', '#FF2B34'], \

['#F8E800', '#00588C'], \
['#F8E800', '#008009'], \
['#F8E800', '#00A0FF'], \ x 2
['#F8E800', '#00EA11'], \ x 2
['#F8E800', '#5E008C'], \
['#F8E800', '#807500'], \
['#F8E800', '#9A5200'], \
['#F8E800', '#AC32FF'], \ x 2
['#F8E800', '#B20008'], \
['#F8E800', '#BE9E00'], \
['#F8E800', '#FF2B34'], \ x 2
['#F8E800', '#FF8F00'], \ x 2

['#FF2B34', '#00588C'], \
['#FF2B34', '#005FE4'], \
['#FF2B34', '#008009'], \
['#FF2B34', '#00A0FF'], \
['#FF2B34', '#00B20D'], \
['#FF2B34', '#00EA11'], \
['#FF2B34', '#5E008C'], \
['#FF2B34', '#7F00BF'], \
['#FF2B34', '#807500'], \
['#FF2B34', '#9A5200'], \
['#FF2B34', '#AC32FF'], \
['#FF2B34', '#B20008'], \
['#FF2B34', '#BE9E00'], \
['#FF2B34', '#E6000A'], \
['#FF2B34', '#F8E800'], \
['#FF2B34', '#FF8F00'], \  x2

['#FF8F00', '#00588C'], \
['#FF8F00', '#005FE4'], \
['#FF8F00', '#008009'], \
['#FF8F00', '#00A0FF'], \
['#FF8F00', '#00B20D'], \
['#FF8F00', '#00EA11'], \
['#FF8F00', '#5E008C'], \
['#FF8F00', '#807500'], \
['#FF8F00', '#9A5200'], \
['#FF8F00', '#A700FF'], \
['#FF8F00', '#AC32FF'], \
['#FF8F00', '#B20008'], \
['#FF8F00', '#BE9E00'], \
['#FF8F00', '#C97E00'], \
['#FF8F00', '#F8E800'], \
['#FF8F00', '#FF2B34'], \  x 2

['#FFADCE', '#00A0FF'], \
['#FFADCE', '#00EA11'], \
['#FFADCE', '#AC32FF'], \
['#FFADCE', '#F8E800'], \
['#FFADCE', '#FF2B34'], \
['#FFADCE', '#FF8F00'], \

['#FFC169', '#00A0FF'], \
['#FFC169', '#00EA11'], \
['#FFC169', '#AC32FF'], \
['#FFC169', '#F8E800'], \
['#FFC169', '#FF2B34'], \
['#FFC169', '#FF8F00'], \

['#FFFA00', '#EDDE00'], \

---

--ixo 07:42, 14 February 2008 (EST)