[BRLTTY] 3D printing and accessibility

[Jason White]

Amanda Lacy <lacy925 at gmail.com> wrote:
 
> Someone once engraved some maps for me, but for the most part other
> people don't seem too interested in 3D printers. I agree with you;
> they seem tremendously useful. The main problems I see are: 1) No
> accessible method of creating the files for the printer. 2) Most
> objects at any usable size take hours to produce.
> 

The first problem can be partly solved if you are willing to do a little
programming. Tools such as openscad allow you to write small programs that
generate 3D models, which a printer can then fabricate.

I think better programming languages could be developed to enable 3D designs
to be constructed  non-visually.

The second problem affects everybody involved in 3D printing.

There are researchers and practitioners interested in educational applications
of 3D printing, including accessibility work.

> Even with these limitations I would still love to own one. How much
> are they now, $200?


They're somewhat more expensive than that, unfortunately. A quick Web search
would give you details of available products and their prices.