Touching the stars: improving NASA 3D printed data sets with blind and visually impaired audiences

Abstract

Astronomy has been an inherently visual area of science for millenia, yet a majority of its significant discoveries take place in wavelengths beyond human vision. There are many people, including those with low or no vision, who cannot participate fully in such discoveries if visual media is the primary communication mechanism. Numerous efforts have worked to address equity of accessibility to such knowledge sharing, such as through the creation of threedimensional (3D) printed data sets. This paper describes progress made through technological and programmatic developments in tactile 3D models using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory to improve access to data. Keywords: Professionalism, professional development and training in science communication;Public engagement with science and technology; Science communication: theory and models "The tangible appeals to and mobilizes all five senses, while the visible addresses itself to just the eye. It is our modern culture's obsession with making things visible, fueled by optical visuality, that makes us project a similar framework onto medieval art."Pentcheva, 2006, p.636.

Communicating cosmology with multisensory metaphorical experiences

“…Similarly, the "Tactile Collider" is aimed at visually impaired children to engage with the field of particle physics, and demonstrate particle colliders through the use of 3D sound and large scale tactile models [Dattaro, 2018]. Other work in this area include, for example, astronomical activities specifically intended for people with special needs [Ortiz-Gil et al, 2011], 3D tactile representations of Hubble space telescope images [Grice et al, 2015], of data from the X-ray Chandra Observatory [K. Arcand et al, 2019], of the Subaru telescope structure [National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, 2018], of the Eta Carinae nebula [Madura et al, 2015], and of cosmic microwave background radiation anisotropies [Clements, Sato and Fonseca, 2017], which was later used for the tactile stimulation part of the g-ASTRONOMY pilot (see below). Sound has perhaps received less attention to date, but some sonification prototypes have been explored [Casado et al, 2017;Lynch, 2017]…”

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“…This can create challenges in sharing data from these disciplines with BVI audiences. Evaluative studies have shown benefits in using 3D astrophysical models (Christian et al, 2015;Grice et al, 2015;Bonne et al, 2018;Arcand et al, 2019;Argudo-Fernández et al, 2020) for generating or positively impacting learning gains, inclusive practices, STEM identity, and mental visualization. Applications of 3D models in geology and geophysics have been demonstrated for use in museums and similar informal learning environments (Neitzke Adamo et al, 2019) and by other educators (Hasiuk et al, 2017).…”

“…In the past several years, research has shown that 3D printed scientific data from astrophysics and geophysics with tactile features can help communicate with BVI participants across a spectrum of abilities (Bonne et al, 2018) as well as with sighted people (European Southern Observatory, 2019), and also to promote inclusivity more broadly (Christian et al, 2015;Arcand et al, 2019). XR technologies particularly have been broadly shown to provide low-risk, high-impact virtual spaces that can accommodate physical barriers to interaction by providing learner-specific experiences (Chandrashekar, 2018), when crafted particularly through universal design techniques (McMahon and Walker, 2019;Menke et al, 2020).…”

“…Therefore, any effort should take into account how to effectively disseminate 3D prints and related Braille or tactile materials. Incurred costs can be problematic for organizations and individuals (Weferling, 2007;Beck-Winchatz and Riccobono, 2008;Arcand et al, 2019) as well as intended audiences, including BVI communities. These issues are particularly relevant during times of disruption and upheaval, as illustrated during the COVID-19 pandemic (McEvoy, 2020).…”

“…In astronomy and astrophysics, data and simulation driven 3D printed objects include multiple object types across a range of scales. In high-energy astrophysics, supernova remnants have been particularly conducive to 3D modeling, encompassing such examples as Cassiopeia A (Arcand et al, 2017;Arcand et al, 2018;Arcand et al, 2019;DeLaney et al, 2010;Orlando et al, 2016), Tycho's supernova remnant (Chandra X-ray Observatory, 2019;Ferrand et al, 2019), Supernova 1987a (Arcand et al, 2017;Orlando et al, 2018;Arcand et al, 2019), and the Crab Nebula ( Figures 1A,B) (Arcand et al, 2020;Summers et al, 2020). Beyond supernovae, other areas of 3D research and output range from star formation regions such as M16 (McLeod et al, 2015), a massive star system with colliding winds called Eta Carinae (Steffen et al, 2014;Madura et al, 2015;Arcand et al, 2017;Madura, 2017), double star system V745 Sco (Chandra X-ray Observatory, 2017;Arcand et al, 2019), protostellar jets like DG Tau (Ustamujic et al, 2016;Ustamujic et al, 2018;Orlando et al, 2019;Chandra X-ray Observatory, 2020a), and beyond to much larger structures including the South Pole Wall (Pomarède et al, 2020), the Cosmic Web (Diemer and Facio, 2017) and the Cosmic Microwave Background (Clements et al, 2016;Arcand et al, 2017).…”