Customizable 3D Printed Tactile Maps as Interactive Overlays

Though tactile maps have been shown to be useful tools for visually impaired individuals, their availability has been limited by manufacturing and design costs. In this paper, we present a system that uses 3D printing to (1) make tactile maps more affordable to produce, (2) allow visually impaired individuals to independently design and customize maps, and (3) provide interactivity using widely available mobile devices. Our system consists of three parts: a web interface, a modeling algorithm, and an interactive touchscreen application. Our web interface, hosted at www.tactilemaps.net, allows visually impaired individuals to create maps of any location on the globe while specifying (1) what features to map, (2) how the features should be represented by textures, and (3) where to place markers and labels. Our modeling algorithm accommodates user specifications to create map models with (1) multiple layers of continuously varying textures and (2) markers of various geometric shapes or braille characters. Our interactive application uses a novel approach to 3D printing tactile maps using conductive filament to provide touchscreen overlays that allow users to dynamically interact with the maps on a wide range of mobile devices. This paper details the implementation of our system. We also present findings from a user study validating the usability of our mapping interface and the utility of the maps produced. Finally, we discuss the limitations of our current implementation and the plans we have to improve our system based on feedback from our user study and additional interviews.

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