3D Printed Books Help Blind Children to Read

A team from the University of Colorado Boulder, led by computer science professor Tom Yeh, had embarked on a project to create customised 3D printed picture and braille books for visually impaired children.

The idea behind the Tactile Picture Books Project was to represent 2D images in a three-dimensional way on a scale that is appropriate for young children. “The team combines this information with computational algorithms – essentially step-by-step instructions for mathematical calculations – to provide a way for parents, teachers and supporters to 3D print their own picture books”, Yeh explains.

Each page of the books – among them famous titles such as Goodnight Moon, Noah’s Ark or The Very Hungry Caterpillar – consists of a combination of a 3D image and braille text.

Caleb Hsu, who designed the 3D printed tactile book “Noah’s Ark, said: “The process of designing these tactile pictures has been a rather humbling experience. In retrospect, I am struck by how deeply concerned the teachers for the visually impaired were with the individual needs of each child, because the creation of the tactile picture book for Noah’s Ark required some relinquishing of my own personal agenda. Instead of making a model that was beautiful and interesting to a pair of eyes, I was learning to consider the needs of others in an attempt to make something useful and educational to a pair of hands.”