3D printing is helping blind students “feel” art, history, and other school subjects

Being a student who’s blind makes learning a bit different compared to their sighted peers. Most artwork is experienced through audio descriptions, an animal’s appearance is often imagined than known, and the phrase “bird’s-eye view” means very little when reading a map. However, 3D printing is literally putting more knowledge at the fingertips of blind and low-vision students at the South Australia School for Vision Impaired.

Through the work of models 3D printed by researchers at University of Sydney and Modash University, the visually-impaired students are able to receive a more enhanced learning experience to better understand certain subjects on par with sighted students.

"We've had a lot of those wonderful 'aha' moments where people who've not been able to understand a concept from a description, once they're handed the 3D model, all of a sudden they understand," said Monash University’s Dr. Leona Holloway to the Australian Broadcasting Company. "I was talking to someone who doesn't use maps at all because they don't understand what a bird's eye view is, whereas if you can provide that map in three dimensions it makes sense."

3D printing has had a great impact in helping blind students learn. By touching a 3D model of a blowfish, they can better understand how it looks when it is fully blown up and spiky versus when it is deflated and unthreatened. They could even “see” the iconic smile of the Mona Lisa painting by “finger glancing” a raised smile among other details in the 3D printed version of it.

There are many applications for 3D printing to explore.Photo credit: Canva

While 3D printing for visually-impaired students is new, using tactile methods for educating the blind isn’t. However, models used in the past were commonly handmade by teachers, making them extremely limited in quantity and varied in quality throughout different schools and settings. With 3D prints, more effective models can be made in less time and at the same standard of quality with the press of a button.

Since these new models are made quickly, cheaply, and with guidance from blind participants and educators, there is now less reliance on raised drawings of these concepts.

"For example, the raised-line drawing of a building ... it's difficult to understand tactilely because it's using concepts like perspective and occlusion," said Dr. Holloway. "For a blind person, that's not the way they interpret the world … whereas a 3D model is a lot more easy to understand."

While 3D printing has become a great method in educating the visually impaired about the world around them, there are several other applications that 3D printing is contributing to help improve the world in big and small ways. Parents have found 3D printing to become a more affordable hobby that allows them to make fun toys for their kids. Members of the National Science Foundation are experimenting ways to create delicious foods and desserts using 3D printers in the hopes of creating convenient processed yet nutrient-dense food.

One of the biggest contributions is that 3D printing could innovate organ transplants. Researchers at Harvard University have experimented on “bioprinting” organs since 2019 and showing promising results so far. If proven viable, this could help millions of people who need a new bladder, kidney, or lung transplant in the future, along with creating hope for 3D printing other organs, too.

It will be interesting to see how 3D printing impacts not just the lives of the blind, but the lives of all people in the coming years.