Brief Explanation

While we had been wondering how to carry out the client's request, we found that most of blind students didn't have yearbooks just because they had difficulty to see. We decided to invent the first yearbook for the blind, Touchable Yearbook, by 3D printing technology. As yearbooks for the blind had never existed, we needed to get some progresses done before 3D printing.

The Brief

The client, 3D Tek, is a small 3D printing company in Korea. Recently Korean mass medias have been concerned that 3D printing technology could be misused such as creating real weapons. The client wanted to inform the public how the technology could make the real life better. They asked for powerful idea showing their good will.

How the final design was conceived

We researched how the blind distinguished objects by their hands; sizes, texture and etc.. We found out that the most proper size for the yearbook should fit their palms and the smooth texture would be far more important than colors. Based on our researches, we scanned the faces of the students and printed them by 3D printers. We made each of sculptures detachable from the standing board, so the students can touch each faces of their friends easily. And also we inscribed the basic personal information such as birthday dates and names in braille on the standing board.

Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market

The students at Seoul National School for the Blind were given yearbooks for the blind for the first time on the graduation day. Our invention made a huge impression among not only students but also people attending. By the yearbook the students won’t forget each other forever and we expect more blind students can have their own yearbooks afterwards. The client regarded that the campaign was quite successful and furthermore they assumed that the invention could be their future business item.