3D print map for visually impaired people

This special map allows blind and visually impaired people to "read" images in the same way as reading Braille.

3D Tactile printed map is a new invention of the training center of Joseph Kohn - a vocational training facility for the blind in New Brunswick, New Jersey (USA). This invention helps blind people move on their own without the help of others.

Changes

One question is: Can 3D printing technology become a support tool for visually impaired people when there are about 285 million people in the world today who are visually impaired?

To do that, engineers and designers discovered the potential of 3D printed maps . In the summer of 2015, mechanical engineer Howon Lee (Rutgers University, USA) and student Jason Kim decided to upgrade 3D printed maps.

Mr. Lee decided to change the software of this special map. Accordingly, the wood is replaced with durable plastic; Each floor has a separate map, compact size for blind people to take with them.

In addition, this map fully shows rooms with many different symbols, such as the bathroom (male circle and triangle for women), square for elevators and many lines for stairs.

The team has included a number of designs into the map to guide the visually impaired to recognize streets, buildings, corridors, and even tips on how to navigate through sound and installation.

3D printed map of the Training Center Joseph Kohn.

Many advantages

Naturally, the 3D printed map of Mr. Lee and Mr. Kim is not the first map to support blind people. Previously, in 2014, Japanese designers created a software that allows people to download spatial, geographic data and print it at low cost with 3D printing technology, enabling blinds to have Clearly distinguish highways, roads and railways.

In 2015, Central Missouri University students (USA) spent a month making a 3D map of their campus. Thereby, with this 3D printing technology, people can print everything they want.

"Just create a 3D model on a computer, send data to a printer, 3D printer will create the model you need," Lee said.

Easy to carry, fast and lasting are three advantages of 3D printing technology. In addition, flexibility is also a great advantage of this technology. In addition, Mr. Lee and his students are trying to expand the mapping project for each of their students at the Center with the lowest cost. In the long run, he hopes to create a citywide map. " The city can grow continuously with many new buildings, however, 3D technology can change the designs on the computer in a very flexible way , " he said.

"Look" with touch

3D printing technology is applied a lot in supporting blind people, such as helping visually impaired people to "see" the pictures. The 3Dphotoworks company together with the American Blind Association jointly developed the "tactile 3D printing" process which was inspired by the work on the flexible nervous mechanism of Dr. Paul Bach-y-Rita, a neurologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. According to Bach-y-Rita's research, the human brain is capable of handling tactile information obtained from finger contact, similar to what "seeing" can bring. Basically, that means that when a visually impaired person touches 3D printed art paintings, its image will form in the brain, just like a normal-eyed person can do. To improve the quality of the experience, some sensors are included in the printout to automatically play sound, letting the blinds know what they are touching as well as basic information about the picture.

In Korea, blind students have access to new geography learning methods through the help of 3D printers. Accordingly, the maps are 3D printed within 30 minutes. With this special map, students are perceived and visualized more "visually" in geography: on borders and hills .

In the not too distant future, people who are visually impaired or visually impaired can "see" things around them with special assistive devices, enabling them to fully feel what is happening around them. around me .