A new 3D printed Braille Puzzle for the visually-impaired

HYDERABAD: LV Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad, has developed Fittle, the world’s first 3D printed Braille Puzzle. Created in collaboration with Serviceplan and educational toy company Ravensburger to develop Fittle, the puzzle is for millions of visually impaired children across the world. Fittle models can be downloaded from the Fittle website and 3D-printed at almost zero cost, making Braille more accessible than ever. To further complete the Braille literacy puzzle, the Fittle Project is raising funds to provide 3D printers to communities in developing countries who couldn’t afford expensive learning devices in the past.

What to expect

There is a growing range of Fittle models including a rocket, mouse, violin, fish, boat, key and crown, which will cover the entire alphabet, it was announced in a press conference held in the city recently. The puzzles have been created by experienced puzzle designers for the most engaging learning experience.
India has 22 million visually impaired people and a significant majority of whom end up unemployed, illiterate and with low socio-economic status, due to financial constraints preventing them access to education at a young age. The existing Braille learning educational tools are either too expensive to make them accessible, or not engaging enough to encourage interaction. To address this problem, the companies worked with Dr. Anthony Vipin Das and team at (LVPEI) and Ravensburger to develop the puzzle.

What the game enables

The Fittle film will be shown in movie theatres in India, managed by the Prasads group, as a public service message to increase awareness of the educational aspect of the 3D Braille Puzzles, and an explanation of how to download the template for printing the puzzles. Dr. Beula Christy, Head of the Institute for Vision Rehabilitation, L V Prasad Eye Institute commented:

“Fittle opens a new avenue for children with visual impairment to explore the world around them to its closest possible reality. Besides being a motivator to learn Braille, this amusing recreational toy influences overall development through a constructive playtime.
Fittle enables fine motor activity to enhanced higher level cognitive functioning such as attention, focusing, problem solving, object permanence, concept learning and much more.