3D-Printed Artwork Lets Visually Impaired People “See” Art

Seeing a masterpiece like the Mona Lisa or Starry Night is an awe-inspiring experience. 3D printing is making it possible for people who are blind and visually impaired to join in that experience for the first time. Museums around the world use 3D printers to produce highly-detailed representations of visual art that people who can’t see are able to touch. This brilliant intersection of technology and art takes a painting like the Mona Lisa and creates a 3D relief print that allows the audience to feel the brushstrokes, shadows, and highlights with their fingertips.

3D printing also allows experts to produce detailed recreations of damaged or lost works of art. For example, two researchers used AI and 3D printers to recreate a lost Van Gogh painting that the artist painted over more than a century ago. Similarly, a Picasso painting that was hidden under another of his works was revealed with 3D printing. And, perhaps unsurprisingly, many innovative artists are using 3D printing to create works that defy the imagination. Sculptures are reshaping the art world with sculptures that could not physically exist without 3D printing technology.

Expecting Parents Can Hold Their Baby Before It’s Born

One of the exciting moments for soon-to-be parents is the first time they see their baby in a sonogram. More advanced ultrasound technology allows parents to see highly detailed 3D images of their little one. When combined with 3D printing, the tech can produce a 3D model of the baby that parents can actually hold in their hands. One company even lets you print a tiny 3D model of your baby that you can wear or use as a keychain. That’s quite the step up from the blurry sonogram images of yore.

3D-printed sonograms are just a novelty. For blind and visually impaired parents, the models are a whole new way to “see” their unborn baby. In a heartwarming viral video, an expectant mother who is blind is able to touch an ultrasound 3D-printed model of her son’s face. This type of ultrasonic 3D printing technology is also being used to do everything from targeting cancer tumors and kidney stones to the production of “impossible” geometric structures.

Where Do We Find This Stuff? Here Are Our Sources:

The 9 Coolest Things That Have Been 3D Printed

8 Crazy Things People Have Made with 3D Printers

The 10 Strangest 3D Printed Objects

The 15 Weirdest 3D Printed Things

The 5 Coolest, Most Innovative Things Ever 3D Printed

The World’s Coolest and Craziest Things to Be 3D Printed

12 amazing 3D printed objects