Tactile Deep-Space Imagery For The Visually Impaired

3D Printing & Imaging Craft & Design Education

I am descended from 5,000 generations of tool-using primates. Also, I went to college and stuff. I am a long-time contributor to MAKE magazine and makezine.com. My work has also appeared in ReadyMade, c't – Magazin für Computertechnik, and The Wall Street Journal.

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@seanragan

April 6th, 2011

NASA’s Amazing Space project has a monthly Tactile Astronomy feature that provides public-domain files for printing “feelable” versions of Hubble’s deep space photographs on special printers:

Tactile Astronomy supports our efforts to bring the wonders of the universe to everyone, regardless of their visual ability. This new section of Amazing Space includes “Images of the Month” — monthly postings of the latest Hubble images designed to be downloaded and printed on a thermal paper expansion machine, thus allowing the visually impaired to feel what they cannot see.

[Thanks, Rachel!]