3d printing for the visually impaired
3D Printed “Linespace” Allows Visually Impaired People to Read and Interact with Maps, Diagrams and More
The woman stands at a drafting table, her hands resting lightly on the surface. “Berlin center,” she says clearly. A voice responds, “Drawing central Berlin,” and a 3D print head…
3D Printed Tactile Books Allow Visually Impaired Children to Experience Stories
Braille has been around since 1824, when blind Frenchman Louis Braille invented the system of raised dots that would allow blind people to read with their fingertips. In the beginning, writing…
Editor’s Choice: 15 of the Coolest 3D Printing Stories of 2015
2015 has been quite a year. Personally, I’ve loved it; I got married, bought a house, hit a milestone birthday, and became editor-in-chief of this great site. I’m almost sad…
Kickstarter: 3DPhotoWorks Fills in the Gaps Left by Art Museums with 3D Tactile Fine Art Prints & Audio
If you have a visually impaired friend or relative, you are probably well aware of their challenges, but more so of their strengths in other areas that can simply blow…
Crowdfunding Campaign to Support Ambitious Plans to 3D Print the Universe
It sounds like exactly the kind of evil plan that would be dreamed up by a comically inept super villain with only a limited understanding of exactly what it is that…
3D Printing for Posterity: TechMind Creates Yearbooks & Technology Project for Blind Guadalajara Students
Many of us remember the excitement of the day that yearbooks arrive. It signals the very end of the school year and the long days of summer approaching, with everyone…
3DPhotoWorks Turns Art & Photography into a 3D Printed, Multi-Sensory Experience
3D printing has great purpose in this world. Many important things are happening. Lives are being saved. We are exploring space and taking 3D printers with us. The manufacturing world…
Texas A&M’s 3D Braille Printer Can Print on Any Curved or Flat Plastic Surface
As technology improves, so do the lives of those individuals living with disabilities all around the world. 3D printing has become one of those technologies aiding in creating custom devices,…
Giving Back: think3D Enriches Science Class with 3D Printed Models at Devnar School for the Blind
The world of technology and all it encompasses is vast and can often revolve around the rather cold world of industry and manufacturing, made of steel and metal. And while…
Students Create 3D Printed Tactile Map of Campus for Visually Impaired
While 3D printing has most definitely blasted open a new world for designers and hobbyists, specific areas like cartography have received a real boon in progress. Because a map is…
STACK: A Student Designed 3D Printed Measuring Cup Built on Universal Design
Universal design is the idea that improving our designed environment for people with disabilities isn’t a way of simply adding on something extra but rather supports the improvement of the…
3D Printing-Enhanced Rubik’s Cube Features Braille Numbers for the Visually Impaired
If you’ve ever tried to master the Rubik’s Cube and failed, you’re not alone. It has been estimated that only about 5.8% of the people the world over can solve…
Espoo, Finland: Versoteq Installs 3D Printed, Full Color Mall Maps
Finland may be a small country, but it has a big reputation as an awesome and widely coveted place to live—and that’s not just because it boasts the most heavy metal bands…
3D Printing Technique “Didú” Helps Visually Impaired Feel Art
A few strict rules usually accompany museum visits, and these include “No Photographs” and “No Touching.” Now a new 3D printing technique is being applied to buck these conventional rules,…
Researchers Use 3D Printed Glasses as Case Study in Favor of Introducing Sustainability via 3D Printing
“You say you want a revolution…” Well, you should know by now… one is on the way via 3D printing, and exploding out of every viable avenue. When the technology…
Visually Impaired South Korean Students Receive 3D Printed Touchable Yearbook by 3D TEK
As I wrote out a pretty substantial check for my son to purchase his yearbook for seventh grade, I knew from experience that while it might momentarily seem like quite a…
Yoocan3D Brings 3D Printing and Braille Together to Streamline Communication for the Visually Impaired
While 3D printing is making monumental impacts in very serious sectors like manufacturing, medicine, and space, my favorite headlines to write are for these types of stories, where people’s lives…
3D Maps Created by IDeA Center Use Multi-Sensory Installations to Delight and Direct Everyone
Baby, we’ve come a long way, for sure, but what about when we reach our destination? It helps me enormously to have ‘all systems go’ when I’m on the move…