T
Tactile Visualization and 3D Printing
for Education
Howard Kaplan and Anna Pyayt
University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA
Synonyms
3D Printing; Additive manufacturing; Haptic;
Physical visualization; Rapid prototyping; Tac-
tile; Touch; Visualization
Definition
Tactile visualization is the process of formation of
a mental image based on a sense of touch. In
particular, objects for tactile visualizations can
be created using 3D printers based on digital 3D
models stored in a computer.
Introduction
The earliest data visualizations were, most proba-
bly, physical – built by arranging stones or peb-
bles and, later, clay tokens (Schmandt-Besserat
1999). Since then, many new technologies for
fabrication of objects have been created. Cur-
rently, advances in rapid prototyping technology
has allowed for the widespread of consumer level
3D printers. The accessibility of these printers
# Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015
N. Lee (ed.), Encyclopedia of Computer Graphics and Games,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-08234-9_57-1
allows us to demonstrate very sophisticated phys-
ical visualizations that were previously impossi-
ble. As a result, 3D printing becomes a very useful
technology for creation of innovative educational
material. Research has shown that spatial memory
and object recognition are both accessed with
tactile senses (Xiao 2011). However, since 3D
printing for education is still at its infancy, there
is no general approach to the creation of
3D-printed material. Specifically, the input data
describing an interesting object or phenomenon
can be converted into a 3D model via a number of
approaches. Here we provide an overview of dif-
ferent methods for 3D conversion that take into
consideration dimensionality of the initial data set
(2, 2.5, or 3) and the source of the information
(2D image, collection of 2D images, 3D scan).
Next we discuss further processing and improve-
ment of the output 3D model, such as fusion of
multiple models and incorporation of additional
information that can be used for improved 3D
visual and tactile perception. Finally, we discuss
transition from a 3D model to a 3D-printed object
and describe pluses and minuses of currently
available 3D printers.
State of the Art
One of the challenging steps in creating a tactile
visualization is a conversion from the initial data
source into printable digital 3D model. Figure 1
summarizes many possible inputs and data
2 Tactile Visualization and 3D Printing for Education

2D Image Quantitative/
2, 5D/
Surface Scan Numerical Data
Multidimentional 3D Software
Photogrammetry

Photograph Programmatically
Curves Generate surface CT/MRI 3D Modeling Programmatically
Drawing
Point Cloud Digital Sculpting Generate surface
CAD Models

Construct Surface
Convert to gray
i.e. - Loft, Extrude,
scale Sampling / Sub-
Fill Convert to polygon / Volume
sampling Convert to polygon/
triangulated Surface / isosurface
triangulated
Surface

Displacement,
Height Surface
and/or Alpha Surface Reconstruction Reconstruction
Mapping i.e. Poisson or i.e. Poisson or
Marching Cubes Marching Cubes

Polygon Surface

Combine 3d Models,
to build tactile
visualization
model

Analyze, Prepare and

Process tactile
visualization model for
3D Printing

Import 3D model
to 3d printing
software
generate slices /
code and send to
the 3d printer

END
3D PRINT

Tactile Visualization and 3D Printing for Education, Fig. 1 Schematic of different approaches to 3D printing of
tactile visualizations depending on the data input

transformations all resulting in 3D printing. The time-consuming. We use various approaches

input data comes in many different formats; thus, depending on the data types and desired out-
generation of a 3D digital representation can be comes. For example, when working with
Tactile Visualization and 3D Printing for Education
scientific multidimensional images from such
sources as computer tomography (CT) scans that
are combined from a large number of 2D images,
we use ImageJ and Kitware ParaView to define
and generate isosurfaces (Rengier et al. 2010).
In the situation when only one 2D illustration
or graphic needs to be converted into a 3D surface,
then we need to use color information from the
image to create depth or displacement maps. They
can be later “extruded” in a computer graphic
application or using specialized software. Next,
the generated 3D surfaces are saved as polygon
meshes.
After the creation of individual 3D models and
corresponding meshes, the models can be further
improved, combined, or enriched with additional
information. Joining the models requires position-
ing and scaling the objects in a 3D virtual space.
Multiple tools and techniques are used to further
process, clean, and manipulate parts of the geom-
etry in order to achieve accurate results. To assist
with this stage of the process, we use 3D computer
graphic software, such as Autodesk Maya or an
open-source application Blender. It is a critical
step of the process, since it determines the final
look and feel of the 3D model. The model is saved
and then exported as either an.OBJ or.STL file.
Prior to exporting the models into a 3D printing
software (traditionally called Slicer), the models
have to be analyzed, prepared, repaired, and
processed.
Other approaches to the creation of 3D models
include free-form modeling, surface scanning,
and surface rendering must go through this same
process in order to be 3D printed. For this task, we
use either freeware Autodesk MeshMixer or an
open-source software for processing unstructured
polygonal meshes called MeshLab. These appli-
cations check the printability of the geometry and
make the necessary repairs. Again, once the
model has been properly analyzed, it is exported
as an.OBJ or.STL and imported into the 3D print-
ing software (Slicer).
The Slicer allows adjusting parameters of the
printer directly affecting the final physical
3D-printed object. There are various Slicing soft-
ware packages, each offering different customiz-
ing options. However, typical parameters include
3
layer thickness, infill, and number of shells. Layer
thickness is the resolution of the print and refers to
the height that will form each layer of the print.
Infill is the setting that determines the ratio up to
which the object is going to be filled with the
material (0 % means that the object will be
completely hollow, and 100 % means completely
solid). Finally, shells are used to strengthen and
thicken the walls of the object.
Additionally, some printing software packages
have settings for automating support structures for
holding overhanging geometry, rafts for added
support in holding the object to the 3D printer
bed, and, in the case of multiple extrusion print-
ing, selection that allows a 3D model to be printed
using a specific extruder. The 3D Slicing software
also allows for position models on a virtual 3D
print bed showing actual size and helping to opti-
mize orientation for better quality and faster
printing.
3D Printing Hardware
There are many types of three-dimensional
(3D) desktop printers. The majority of low-cost
consumer 3D printers are FDM (fused deposition
modeling), where objects are built up layer by
layer with extruded melted plastic. The examples
of materials currently used for 3D printing include
such biodegradable plastic as polylactic acid
(PLA), an environmentally friendly material
derived from corn starch, and acrylonitrile buta-
diene styrene (ABS) polymer derived from fossil
fuels. There are a number of transparent, conduc-
tive, wood, dissolvable, and other materials with
advanced properties, including chocolate and bio-
logical cells that can be used for 3D printing.
Some of these materials require specific hardware
for extrusion and temperature control. Most of the
polymers are produced as filaments with a diam-
eter from 1.75 mm and 3 mm, depending on the
printing head type. They melt at temperatures
ranging from 170 to 250 degrees Celsius, and
when they rapidly cool down, they form complex
3D objects, layer by layer. The cost of a consumer-
grade, desktop 3D printer ranges from $300 for
do-it-yourself (DIY) kits to $3,500 for
4 Tactile Visualization and 3D Printing for Education

Tactile Visualization and 3D Printing for Education, Table 1 3D printer data (Kaplan, Pyayt, University of South
Florida)
No. Print No.
Printer printers count Build size Resolution Material extruders
Makerbot 10 1769 28.5 L  15.3 W  15.5 H cm 100 mm PLA 1
Replicator 2
Makerbot 2 74 24.6 L  15.2 W  15.5 H cm 100 mm ABS/ 2
Replicator 2X PLA
Makerbot 2 13 25.2 L  19.9 W  15.0 H cm 100 mm PLA 1
Replicator 5thGen
Makerbot 2 47 30.0 L  30.5 W  45.7 H cm 100 mm PLA 1
Replicator Z18
Deltamaker 1 13 24 cm diameter  26 H cm 100 mm PLA 1
Orion 1 15 12.7 cm  12.7 cm  22.8 cm 100 mm PLA 1
Rostock Max 2 31 28 cm diameter  39 H cm 100 mm PLA/ 1
ABS
Creatorbot 2 15 30.5 cm  30.5 cm  45.72 cm 100 mm ABS 2
Makergear M2 1 15 20 cm  25 cm  20 cm 100 mm PLA/ 1
ABS
MakerFarm Prusa 2 5 30 cm  30 cm  34.3 cm 50 mm PLA/ 1
ABS
FlashForge 3 64 22.5 cm  14.5 cm  15 cm 100 mm PLA/ 2
ABS
Form1+ 2 39 12.5 cm  12.5 cm  16.5 cm 25 mm Resin 1(tank)

preassembled, larger build area, systems. Many of
them can be purchased on the Internet. Most 3D
printers are compatible with standard.STL
(stereolithographic) and.OBJ file formats.
As other forms of 3D printing based on
stereolithography (SLA) become more accessible
to the academic community other materials, such
as metals, flexible polymers, and castable and
high-stress resins become available. In the future,
combinations of different materials together with
the use of various advanced settings and improved
resolution will ultimately lead to a higher quality
and accuracy of tactile visualizations (Table 1).
Additionally, this will allow using material prop-
erties, such as texture, elasticity, and thermal con-
ductivity to encode and communicate more types
of data in the same model (Padilla 2009).
For this study, we tested numerous 3D printers.
We found that most low-cost consumer 3D
printers have similar features, resolution settings,
and overall output quality. However, during our
testing, we did find out that some printers were
more consistent than the others. Typical problems
with 3D printers include warping, lifting or
shifting, and leveling/un-leveling of the print
plate. The ability to maintain the appropriate tem-
perature and jamming of the extruder were also
problem areas for many of the printers. However,
there were several that performed really well. For
example, the Makerbot Replicator
2 4th-generation printers produced finished prints
more often and had significantly fewer issues than
many other models. This printer comes
preassembled, uses PLA, and is equipped with a
single extrusion nozzle. As of 2015, it ranges in
price from $2199.00 to $2800.00 and can be pur-
chased online.
Another example of a printer that consistently
produced good results was the Rostock Max. This
DIY printer uses a cylindrical mapping motion to
build prints along the XZY axis. The printer has a
heated build plate, large printer volume area, can
print in PLA or ABS, and is a single-extrusion
printer. The Rostock Max kit costs $1000.00 and
took us 3 days to build. These two printers are just
the examples of good-quality models that we
Tactile Visualization and 3D Printing for Education 5

Tactile Visualization
and 3D Printing
for Education, Fig. 2 (a)
High-resolution optical
microscopy image, (b)
embossed polygon surface,
(c) 3D print (Pyayt and
Kaplan University of South
Florida

tested, while there are many more available on the
market.
In conclusion, we also found that different
printers fit different departments and colleges.
For example, engineering students liked the DIY
printers because they allowed them to customize
and modify the printer to their particular needs.
Whereas students in other disciplines, such as the
arts, liked the ease of use and available technical
support of the preassembled printers.
Overview
Data visualization is a technique used to explore
real or simulated data by representing it in a form
more suitable for comprehension (Fritz and
Bamer 1999). In schools and universities, most
educators utilize generic two-dimensional scien-
tific illustrations, and data visualizations. These
graphics require students to mentally decode,
rotate, and visualize the object, adding to the
complex mental processing already taking place
through the introduction of new learning material.
It is especially challenging when understanding
requires complex geometric manipulations in
three dimensions.
To decrease the cognitive load imposed on
students and explain complex engineering, sci-
ence, and art concepts easier, we are using tactile
visualizations created with 3D printers. Tactile
visualization, similarly to 2D data visualization,
can be used as both explanatory and exploratory
learning tools. Exploratory visualizations are used
to better understand the data. Explanatory visual-
ization is utilized as a method of communication
to explain something about the data (Iliinsky and
Steele 2011). Tactile visualizations allows for
deeper explanation and exploration through pro-
viding physical representations that allow the
learner to feel and touch the data, in addition to
seeing. Furthermore, numerous evidence from
educational psychology suggest that physical
manipulative representations of complex objects
facilitate understanding and learning (O’Malley
and Fraser 2004). Additionally, building tactile
data representations allows customizing and indi-
vidualizing of educational material.
Our approach is to provide the students with
physical and tactile representations of complex
6 Tactile Visualization and 3D Printing for Education
Tactile Visualization
and 3D Printing
for Education, Fig. 3 (a)
Surface reconstruction, (b)
mesh in Form 1+ Software,
(c) 3D print (Kaplan,
Chittam, Das, University of
South Florida)
objects created by other people, as well as give
them an opportunity to create tactile visualizations
themselves. It helps more effectively and effi-
ciently to aid in the development of mental
images, transfer of prior knowledge to new con-
text, improve mental processing, and positively
contribute to learning experiences in STEAM
(science, technology, engineering, art, and math-
ematics) education. We investigated and catego-
rized multiple approaches to the creation of tactile
visualizations for numerous departments: Com-
puter Science, Paleontology, Geology, Chemical,
and Biomedical Engineering from the College of
Arts and Sciences and College of Engineering, as
well as the Colleges of Education. Furthermore,
we see educational value in the use of tactile
visualizations for the learners with special needs
and disabilities. In particular, tactile visualizations
can greatly enhance education of visually
impaired students.
Experiments and Showcases
In the following section, we show some of the
approaches that were utilized to generate tactile
visualizations for several educational modules.
The design and results of the tactile visualization
depend on the data types, subject area, 3D printing
hardware, and materials utilized, as well as the
desired outcome in terms of educational goals
and objectives.
Our first example demonstrates the approach to
creation of tactile visualizations from a single 2D
image. Here we used a high-resolution photo-
graph of a micropolymer structure, taken with a
camera mounted on top of an optical microscope
(Fig. 2a). The photograph was processed and
converted to a gray-scale image using Adobe
Photoshop. Then a simple 3D polygon mesh was
created in Autodesk Maya. This polygon mesh
was further modified to allow the gray-scale
image to fit and wrap appropriately to a surface
while maintaining the accuracy of the gray-scale
image and avoiding distortion during the transfer
process. The gray-scale image was then mapped
Tactile Visualization and 3D Printing for Education
Tactile Visualization
and 3D Printing
for Education, Fig. 4 (a)
3D triangulated surfaces,
(b) Slice preview, (c) 3D
Print (Kaplan, Pyayt,
University of South Florida)
into a polygon mesh as a displacement map tex-
ture. Once the polygon mesh displacement was
set, both elements were combined into a single-
polygon model (Fig. 2b). The model was then
analyzed and optimized further using MeshLab,
before being imported to the Slicing software for
3D printing using the Makerbot Replicator 2, 4th
generation printer. The final print (Fig. 2c) is 2 in.
by 1.5 in. and is printed in white PLA with 100 mm
resolution. This is a great example of a tactile
visualization that can be used for visually
impaired students. While normally they would
not be able to see details in 2D image, they will
be able to learn information about this complex
structure encoded into rich surface topography.
The next example describes Biomedical 3D
visualization that was created from 2.5D input
(by 2.5 input we mean a collection of 2D images).
In this scenario we started with a dataset of com-
puter tomography (CT) images (axial, coronal,
and sagittal Planes) of a human heart. The images
were combined and processed in ImageJ and
Kitware ParaView. Once the image stacks were
created, an appropriate threshold value was set for
the selected areas. The selections were then used
to generate volume renderings that were further
analyzed, processed, converted to a three-
dimensional polygonal surface, and exported as
an.OBJ file. The.OBJ file was then imported to
Autodesk Maya and MeshMixer for repairing and
7
cleaning (Fig. 3a). The final model was sliced and
printed on both the Makerbot Replicator 2, 4th
generation, and Form1+ 3d printers (Fig. 3b). The
final tactile visualizations were 3D printed using
multiple materials including, PLA, ABD, dissolv-
able, and photopolymer resin (Fig. 3c). Biomedi-
cal students were directly involved in the creation
of this visualization and as a result were able to
build a better understanding of multidimensional
data and medical image processing. Furthermore,
the tactile visualization allowed the students to
understand better the complex anatomical struc-
ture of a human heart.
Our final example demonstrates the use of both
2D image and 3D surface scan data as starting
points for the generation of the 3D printing of
tactile visualizations. Here we worked with com-
puter science students to compare 3D surfaces
generated from a 3D scanner to an algorithmi-
cally/programatically generated 3D surface cre-
ated from two 2D images of a bull.
To build a 3D model from a 2D image, a
custom program was written using OpenCV and
OpenGL. The combined images generated a 3D
polygonal mesh. The mesh was then repaired,
processed, and sliced for 3D printing. The same
bull that was photographed was also surfaced
scanned using a NextEngine 3D Laser scanner.
A point cloud was generated, cleaned, and then
converted to a polygon mesh. The mesh was
8 Tactile Visualization and 3D Printing for Education
saved as an.OBJ file and then imported to
MeshLab for further repair and processing. Once
the model was ready for 3D printing, it was
imported to the slicing software. Here, for both
prints, we used KisSlicer. The settings and mate-
rials were also the same, as we wanted to conduct
a direct comparison. Both models were printed
several times on various printers; however, the
initial models were printed on the FlashForge
Creator Pro in ABS. These tasks allowed the
computer science students to grasp not only mul-
tiple techniques for creating three-dimensional
computer graphics but also the ability of tactile
visualization in comparing and measuring the
accuracy and detail through touch and physical
rotation of 3D-printed models. The final result in
comparing the models generated from an image
and a 3D scan revealed that the scan was much
more efficient and accurate in producing printable
surfaces. However, even though it was expected,
it was still a great educational experience, since
the students learned a lot about different data input
types (Fig. 4).
Conclusion and Discussion
Tactile visualization using 3D printing is an
emerging area of research that examines how
computer-supported, physical representations of
data can enhance cognition, communication,
learning, problem solving, and decision-making.
Since tactile visualization is a new area, there is a
lot of potential to develop it further and find new
exciting applications.
Other interesting future directions include
combining tactile visualization with a gesture con-
trol and tracking and touch-responsive and tangi-
ble user interfaces (TUIs) (Ishii 2008). They offer
not just the ability to touch but also provide tan-
gible force feedback and interactive audio output.
Another approach is combining 3D printing,
electronics, and microcontrollers, such as the
open-source platform Arduino (Arduino 2015).
The use of 3D-printed models and augmented
reality displays might also be combined with
data types to provide a more immersive experi-
ence for interactive data manipulation.
To summarize, tactile visualization combined
with other new technologies can completely trans-
form education and create new, more efficient,
and enjoyable learning experience.
Cross-References
▶ Artistic Data Visualization in the Making
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