3D Printers Bring Art to the Blind Community

The advancement of 3D printing technology has opened new doors for blind or visually impaired individuals; now, with the help of these printers, artworks become 'tangible' for the blind. According to Reuters, John Olsen, a former photographer for Life magazine, has established a company called '3D Photoworks' aimed at printing artworks in three dimensions, making them tactile. He states, 'This process has three stages. In the first stage, we convert the specifications of a two-dimensional photo into three-dimensional data. Once this information is obtained, we send it to the 3D printer. This device adds length, width, depth, and texture to the photo, printing it in three dimensions just as it appears in the image. Now the image is tangible.' This technology allows individuals like Romeo Edmid, who lost his sight at the age of two, to experience a world that has been previously unknown to them. Edmid mentions that since he attended a school where other children could see, he always knew they were experiencing something he could not. Touching artworks is prohibited, so he had no understanding of what they were talking about. However, he describes his experience with the 3D objects created by Olsen's company as a form of 'liberation.' He says, 'Throughout my life, I have heard about the works of famous painters. But they were like words and phrases that I could write but could not necessarily visualize. Something like this (3D printing of artworks) allows me to understand with greater freedom. Having someone explain something to you is very different from seeing it for yourself. But for me, who does not remember what seeing was like, being able to touch something like this is a completely different world.' Another feature of the 3D printed objects is that touching any part of the (3D) image provides the individual with audio feedback about the characteristics and coordinates of that section. This is made possible by a set of sensors embedded on the surface of the printed object. Rowena, another individual who lost her sight at the age of 28, has some concept of what seeing means. Initially skeptical about this new invention, she says that after touching the famous work of Leonardo da Vinci, the Mona Lisa, she was able to establish a connection between what she touches and her memory of the image. 'Now art is accessible to me. I can feel and judge whether I like a piece of art or not.' Olsen has spent seven years developing this method of printing artworks but hopes to produce more 3D artworks at a faster pace now. He states that his goal is to enable blind individuals to access the world of art and photography. '285 million blind and visually impaired people live worldwide. In the U.S., someone goes blind every 11 minutes. Our goal is to make this (3D printing of artworks) available in all museums, scientific centers, and various institutions for these individuals.'