Braille Forge

What it does

Braille Forge is a 3D printer optimised to produce multi-height braille and tactile graphics onto inexpensive paper substrates, broadening access to essential educational resources for individuals with visual impairments.

Your inspiration

A few years ago, I had the pleasure of meeting a young girl born with severe visual impairment who was being fostered by a family friend. She is a very intelligent little girl and was home-schooled for many years by her foster mother, unable to go to schools in her area, due to insufficient equipment and their inability to support her needs. The family was unable to afford specialist VI educational equipment due to the device's extremely high price points. This made me wonder: if specialist visual impairment equipment were made more available and lower cost, could that help to improve the lives of children and young adults like her?

How it works

Unlike traditional Braille embossers, which use subtractive manufacturing to indent braille text onto specialist paper and card, Braille Forge utilises 3D printing technology to deposit solid material directly onto inexpensive paper substrates, making it able to produce braille as well as tactile graphics and low-height 3D models, which are essential when teaching visual concepts to visually impaired users. The printer uses additive manufacturing to deposit physical material bonded onto the surface of the page, layer by layer to produce the desired image or braille text. By doing this, the user can produce multi height and multi texture braille and images which is not possible with current market offerings, and is a key asset when communicating different concepts to VI learners.

Design process

Braille Forge has so far achieved a proof-of-principle working prototype, which is able to produce 3D multi-textured tactile graphics and braille onto inexpensive paper substrates, such as printing directly onto A4 printer paper. These samples have not yet been reviewed for feedback with end users; however, Braille Forge will be working very closely with VI schools, charities (RSBC, RNIB etc.) and organisations to gain valuable feedback and directly assess the legibility and efficacy of the final results. By working directly with VI individuals and TVIs, they will help to shape the product development to include invaluable insight and features which can make a real impact on the VI ed-tech market and help VI individuals flourish in school. As well as the proof of principle model, I have been able to produce a quarter-scale form exploration model which has allowed me to investigate the interaction points through autoethnography and acquire preliminary feedback about how the product will look and feel. I also had to work hard to code the printer's firmware, configuring the printer to be optimised for the production of high resolution, low height prints at a fast print rate.

How it is different

Braille text printers are currently available, but this technology is expensive and limited in adaptability. There is a need for educators to produce bespoke educational materials for visually impaired students to help teach highly visual STEM concepts through the use of adaptable tactile graphics. It is the first braille printer on the market utilising 3D printing technology to produce braille directly onto inexpensive paper substrates, rather than current market offerings, which require expensive high GSM paper, meaning it can print onto cheaper standard A4 sheets, helping keep running costs down for schools. It uses additive manufacturing to deposit physical material bonded onto the surface of the page, layer by layer, to produce the desired image or braille text. By doing this, the user can produce multi-height and multi-texture braille and images, not possible with current market offerings, and is a key asset when communicating concepts to VI learners.

Future plans

Continue product development, bringing the "looks like" model and working prototype model into a single unit, which I can then place with users for testing and feedback, working closely with VI charities and schools to ensure the product is developed from the end user's perspective. I have just purchased a large-format 3D printer, which should allow me to continue prototyping larger models, and will be able to produce several batch units which I can place with additional users. I plan to work on software which allows teachers to scan visual textbooks, converting them to tactile printable formats, and additional plans for a resource library.

Awards

Braille Forge was fortunate enough to secure equity-free funding from winning the 2025 Brunel Venture Competition, funded by Santander Universities, and the founder went on to be awarded the prize of "Outstanding Graduate Entrepreneur" at the 2025 Brunel Alumni of the Year Awards.