Procedural Analysis of the Parameters of 3D Printing Technology in the Process of Manufacturing Objects for Visually Impaired People

Abstract

Counteracting the social and educational exclusion of visually impaired people is an important issue in the area of knowledge transfer, also in the area of cultural heritage. Visually impaired people get to know the world in an organoleptic way, where the leading cognitive factor is touch. This type of cognitive method cannot be used in museology and historical architecture. Current attempts to solve this problem lead to the use of additive technology understood as 3D printing. The paper presents a modified procedure for obtaining digital 3D models with the use of Autodesk Inventor version 2021, dedicated to creating scalable replicas of architectural objects using additive technology. The applied procedure uses the decomposition of the object into its components and the acquisition of data from terrestrial 3D laser scanning (FARO Focus 3D scanner, Faro Scene software). Printing in the Fused Filament Fabrication technology of a designed minaret representing the architecture of the Timuridian period (minaret of the Ulugh Beg Madrasa in Samarkand, Uzbekistan), originating from the Silk Road area, was carried out due to the size of the facility, divided into several parts. The obtained replica of the minaret was presented to people with simulated pattern dysfunction and a blind person and tested in a pilot test. The obtained results confirmed that the decomposition of the object for the purposes of 3D modelling, the diversified scaling of individual elements to make real 3D replicas of the digital model facilitated the kinesthetic recognition of the relevant architectural object for the respondents.

3D printing for the reinterpretation of architectural heritage: Proposal of a model

“…It is clearly understood that new technologies to be developed in this regard must be compatible with the Braille alphabet. An advanced technology in terms of interchangeability and smoothness will mediate the faster and more effective use of the Braille alphabet in contemporary museum techniques [36]. Another detail that can be related to this issue is that the way visually impaired people perceive and experience the world is completely different.…”