Reading picture books like Goodnight Moon remains a fond childhood memory for many, but it’s an experience that many visually-impaired kids don’t get to have. The Tactile Picture Books Project hopes to help change that by designing, 3D printing and distributing tactile versions of picture books, and helping libraries with 3D printers create their own books for the communities they serve.
Lead by Tom Yeh, an assistant professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, the project has already 3D printed custom versions of several children books, including the iconic Goodnight Moon and even a comic strip. Although the idea of tactile picture books is not new, the project hopes that 3D printing can make them easier to reproduce and accessible to a much wider population.