Non-Visual Drawing Tool

Drawing as an activity aids problem solving, collaboration, and presentation in design, science, and engineering in addition to artistic creativity and expression in the arts. Although drawings are some of the most ancient and cross-cultural examples of human creativity, blind and low vision learners still lack an effective drawing tool to foster their inclusion in these areas, even in our era of digital multimedia. Raised-line drawing kits aim to provide this, but blind participants found these to be barely comprehensible, most likely because a line representing a surface edge reflects a visual bias that violates principles of haptic perception. In contrast, participants found 3D models to be more effective. Therefore, a drawing tool for the blind should afford 3D perceptual cues. Furthermore, my investigation of blind and sighted drawers reveals how they continuously react to their prior marks while developing their drawings. But how could this be afforded by a 3D drawing tool non-visually? In response to this question, my co-design sessions (conducted during the Covid-19 lockdown) with blind and low vision drawers prototyped a 3D construction kit with a digital interface to translate 3D-haptic drawings of my custom-designed kit into an online virtual environment, suitable for 3D printing and collaboration. This project advances knowledge of non-visual drawing and identifies an innovative solution, through this project's 3D drawing kit for BPSI. It proposes a cost-effective, accessible solution to a previously visually biased skill.