A glue gun. It is one of the tools that scientist Mona Minkara uses to memorize the structure of chemical molecules. Almost blind since childhood, the bioengineering professor at Northeastern University in Boston has the diagrams of the molecules printed on paper, then asks an assistant to trace the outlines with hot glue. Once cooled, the lines form ridges to be read with the fingers.
If she uses this artisanal means, it is because graphic information is not always easily accessible to scientists with visual impairments. While many technologies (speech synthesis, audio books, Braille) make it possible to adapt text, the task becomes more complicated with images, which are ubiquitous in science. A biochemistry textbook can easily have hundreds of illustrations. How can this barrier be eliminated for students, teachers and scientists who have such a deficiency?
The team of Bryan Shaw, professor of biochemistry at Baylor University in Texas, suggests a promising solution in the review Science Advances. Using a 3D printer, the group produced relief images on thin translucent plastic slabs. The darker a line or area of the original image is, the more the ridge will be “raised” on the wafer. At high resolution, it becomes easy, at your fingertips, to compare two curves, to assimilate a diagram, to discover the texture of a butterfly wing seen under an electron microscope…
There were already inks that swell when printed and Braille printers capable of creating certain patterns (lines, hatching, stripes) from dots, “but 3D printing is much more precise”, underlines the professor.
To test the usefulness of its new approach, the team produced different types of scientific images, then verified that users correctly interpreted the information presented. The results are encouraging: 8 times out of 10, they got the right answer.
Universal size
These tactile pads have a second advantage: they are also readable by sighted people, by transparency, when they are placed in front of a light source. “In science, a large part of the work involves collaboration between specialists from various disciplines, argues Mona Minkara, co-author of the article. This technology allows us to exchange much more easily. You can handle the brochures, carry them in a notebook, give them to a colleague to discuss them…
Mélissa Cécire, owner of Point-par-Point, a Longueuil company that produces adapted documents for students across Canada, finds the idea encouraging. But she is worried about the cost as the process is currently slower than current methods. “It’s already expensive to have documents adapted. If it is too expensive, unfortunately, it will not be offered to everyone, ”she laments.
However, she insists on the importance of producing tactile graphics for people with visual impairments. A picture is worth a thousand words, even for blind people.