[CES 2016] For many of us, we tend to take what we have for granted – a pair of hands, eyes, legs and ears that are working in good condition, although the occasional pain might cause us to groan and complain from time to time. However, what about those who are visually impaired – they are unable to see as we do, and will find it difficult to get around without aids and assistance in the form of specially designed walkways and the ilk. When it comes to learning, too, the lack of sight can be a barrier, and Casio wants to even up the odds by introducing 2.5D printing technology that opens up a new world of possibilities for the visually impaired.
This new system of printing out solid objects will first print an image in color on a special kind of paper, before processing the printed image to develop contours at specific locations on the paper. Such a system will be able to assist in the creation of educational materials, especially for the visually impaired, as they can used their heightened sense of touch to interpret different illustrations and explanation diagrams which can be rather difficult to do so in Braille.
The core technology at play here from Casio would be Thermal Distend (TD) printing technology, where you end up with contours on the piece of paper. Touching the printed artwork as seen in the gallery certainly evoked a sense of wonder – the strategic parts were raised slightly, and yet it does not look as though it bulges out in an unsightly manner. We do hope to see Casio move forward positively in this direction.