The blind man 'views' the universe from Hubble through a 3D printer

Launched in space 24 years ago, the Hubble Space Telescope captures a plethora of breathtaking images from space that open up human knowledge of the universe. However, to the blind, it seems that admiring the beauty of the universe is still a distant dream, until today.

3D prints help blind people "see" the universe from Hubble

Two astronomers at the American Space Telescope Institute have recently adopted a solution that aims to change that. However, instead of enjoying with the eyes, the images of the universe taken by the Hubble Space Telescope are now "touched" by touch. In order to create the "image" of the universe in the form of "Braille" for the blind, they used a 3D printer MakerBot Replicator .

While such a sophisticated printing technology can be practiced for almost any object, the two researchers' biggest challenge is to find 3D structures of objects such as galaxies, The constellation is precisely to put into programming for the printer. And then create the 3D prints that through the sensation, the blind can reproduce these images in his mind.

So far, they have successfully developed a "3D cosmic photo" prototype with stars, gas clouds, fibers and more using lines, circles and dots. Plastic material. The group hopes someday that this solution will be used to produce tactile sensory images, such as Braille for visually impaired people, for schools, libraries and popular users.