3D printing helping blind students learn about subject matter

ABC NEWS (Australia)

School life can be a challenge for many kids - even more so for those who are blind or visually impaired.  Now, thanks to Australian researchers and advances in 3D printing technology, students are getting a helping hand.

Transcript

00:00It's spiky.

00:04In this Adelaide classroom, the term hands-on learning takes on a whole new meaning.

00:09This one's like a horn, not going to lie.

00:143D printing technology has helped revolutionise how these blind and low vision students understand

00:21the world around them.

00:22It's a bit of a sense of joy in a way when you see a child really grasp a concept.

00:28You can explore it more, and you know what you're looking at, but with two-dimensional

00:33shapes, if you don't know what you're looking at, you have to wait for someone to tell you.

00:37For Ramona Mandy, school was a vastly different experience.

00:41I wish I had tactile graphics and 3D prints when I was at high school.

00:45I really do think it is a game changer.

00:47Now she's part of the Monash University team developing better models and creating world-first

00:53guidelines for them, like including imprinted braille and adequate spaces for fingers to

01:00explore.

01:01They are being used internationally already, and a lot of our models also are being shared

01:06internationally, so it's having an impact already.

01:10These 3D printed models aren't just a great education tool for vision-impaired students.

01:16They're also really helpful for their sighted peers.

01:20So everyone can pick up one of these, touch and learn, and it also makes for a much more

01:26inclusive classroom.

01:27This model really shows complex information in a way that can be taken in tactually by

01:35feel, representing the temperatures of Australia, the average temperatures.

01:39The context is that the higher the tactile, the higher the temperature.

01:45Wouldn't you have loved something like this when you were younger?

01:47I'm very tempted to put this in my pocket right now.

01:50But this is a favourite model of ours.

01:52We call him Cylinder Cat, so the student can understand what a cylinder is in three dimensions

01:57and count it themselves.

01:59Mini models also help kids and adults to literally navigate their world.

02:04I was talking to someone who doesn't use maps at all because they don't understand what

02:10a bird's eye view is, whereas if you can provide that map in three dimensions, it all of a

02:15sudden will make sense to them.

02:17Even old masterpieces get a new tech touch.

02:21And you can also feel her hands and it's really detailed.

02:25A finger glance into the past while feeling new ways to a brighter future.

02:30I think it's a fantastic development and we'll just see more and more of it as people explore

02:37and play with it.

02:38We'll only see more ideas come out of it.

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