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.
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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.