Emily A Alonzo, Travis J Lato, Mayte Gonzalez, Trevor L Olson, Quentin R Savage, Levi N Garza, Morgan T Green, Jordan C Koone, Noah E Cook, Chad M Dashnaw, Darren B Armstrong, John L Wood, Lisa S Garbrecht, Madeline L Haynes, Miriam R Jacobson, Matthew J Guberman-Pfeffer, Mona S Minkara, Hoby B Wedler, Bernd Zechmann, Bryan F Shaw
People with blindness have limited access to the high-resolution graphical data and imagery of science. Here, a lithophane codex is reported. Its pages display tactile and optical readouts for universal visualization of data by persons with or without eyesight. Prototype codices illustrated microscopy of butterfly chitin-from N -acetylglucosamine monomer to fibril, scale, and whole insect-and were given to high schoolers from the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired. Lithophane graphics of Fischer-Spier esterification reactions and electron micrographs of biological cells were also 3D-printed, along with x-ray structures of proteins (as millimeter-scale 3D models)...
January 12, 2024: Science Advances