A Spanish printing studio has developed a new printing technology that helps blind people appreciate paintings through touch, and the artworks are currently on display at the Museo del Prado in Madrid.
Estudios Durero, a company located near Bilbao, Spain, calls its new technology Didú, which is like 3D printing but is more than regular 3D printing. It uses a different chemical process to recreate European masterpieces that allow visually impaired individuals to enjoy them through the rich array of textures and colors. Estudios Durero's head designer Cristina Velasco says not all visually impaired people can see nothing at all.
"For this reason, we knew we had to replicate the original colors as closely as possible," Velasco told Not Impossible Now, a website that covers inventions that help improve the world. "This ruled normal 3D printing out, as even the most advanced 3D printer still cannot come anywhere near reproducing the colors and shades of a masterpiece."
