Tactile Visualization and 3D Printing for Education

The earliest data visualizations were, most probably, physical – built by arranging stones or pebbles and, later, clay tokens (Schmandt-Besserat 1999). Since then, many new technologies for fabrication of objects have been created. Currently, advances in rapid prototyping technology has allowed for the widespread of consumer level 3D printers. The accessibility of these printers allows us to demonstrate very sophisticated physical visualizations that were previously impossible. As a result, 3D printing becomes a very useful technology for creation of innovative educational material. Research has shown that spatial memory and object recognition are both accessed with tactile senses (Xiao 2011). However, since 3D printing for education is still at its infancy, there is no general approach to the creation of 3D-printed material. Specifically, the input data describing an interesting object or phenomenon can be converted into a 3D model via a number of approaches. Here we provide an overview of different methods for 3D conversion that take into consideration dimensionality of the initial data set (2, 2.5, or 3) and the source of the information (2D image, collection of 2D images, 3D scan). Next we discuss further processing and improvement of the output 3D model, such as fusion of multiple models and incorporation of additional information that can be used for improved 3D visual and tactile perception. Finally, we discuss transition from a 3D model to a 3D-printed object and describe pluses and minuses of currently available 3D printers.