Data for all: Tactile graphics that light up with picture-perfect resolution.
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 35977019.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1126/sciadv.abq2640 and PMC identifier 9385137.
- Licence recorded as CC BY-NC.
- Because redistribution is not established, this page shows the abstract only. Follow the links below for the full text.
Abstract
People who are blind do not have access to graphical data and imagery produced by science. This exclusion complicates learning and data sharing between sighted and blind persons. Because blind people use tactile senses to visualize data (and sighted people use eyesight), a single data format that can be easily visualized by both is needed. Here, we report that graphical data can be three-dimensionally printed into tactile graphics that glow with video-like resolution via the lithophane effect. Lithophane forms of gel electropherograms, micrographs, electronic and mass spectra, and textbook illustrations could be interpreted by touch or eyesight at ≥79% accuracy (<i>n</i> = 360). The lithophane data format enables universal visualization of data by people regardless of their level of eyesight.