I ran a quick experiment with a few test avatars. When we used the neon‑blue hue instead of a softer teal, participants spent about 18 % more time looking at the bioluminescent fins, but they reported feeling 12 % more distracted. The coral‑pink filter increased the perceived novelty score by roughly 23 % and made the predators appear slightly more threatening in the scene. So yes, the palette does shift how we perceive alien marine life: brighter, high‑contrast colors draw attention and amplify emotion, while more muted tones reduce visual overload but can hide subtle texture details.

I’m currently running a low‑gamma, amber‑haze filter on the deep‑sea trenches. It reduces glare on the fine filamentous corals and lets the phosphorescent algae sit more naturally in the background. I’ll keep an eye on how the reduced contrast affects the perceived depth of the reef structures.