Blind kids trace shapes in city designer’s 3D book

Surat: To help visually impaired children understand the exact shape of various objects, animals and birds, a 28-year-old designing professional from Surat has developed a 3D illustration book for them. Nupur Agarwal, an MA in art design and communication from Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (CEPT) University, Ahmedabad, has now applied for patent of the product idea that initially started as a part of her studies.
Agarwal was inspired for the book after she had to visit schools for the blind in Ahmedabad as part of her course. She then conceptualised and completed the 3D illustration book ‘Ranchhod sees the world” as part of assignment project.
Stating that the title of her book comes from a blind teacher, Ranchhod Soni, who’s works impressed her during one of her visits to a blind school, Agarwal added that Soni inspired her to develop a book on him.
The artist also developed two other types of books later in which she developed the 3D illustration using hard plastic and paper. “The visually impaired students tried both types of books and understood what shapes were mentioned in them,” said Agarwal.
During her visits to the schools, Agarwal could see the blind students’ struggle to understand the concept of shapes — of living beings and also objects — till they could touch and feel it. She initially developed shapes using threads on paper and based on the results she planned for 3D illustration on plastic.
“Earlier books with shapes for visually impaired used materials that were not user friendly. I, therefore, designed this book in cost effective manner and can be easily used or shared,” Agarwal added.