Open-Source, Tactile 3D Printed Interlockable Tiles Incorporating Valency, Bonding, and Hybridization for Molecular Representation for Sighted and Visually Impaired Students

Learning to write chemical formulas of compounds is a basic and indispensable part of understanding and studying chemistry. However, it is hard for studentswith visual impairment to assess and learn molecular arrangements and formulas. For theconvenience of such students with special needs, it is necessary to come up with easy,comprehensive, and efficient solutions to make them independent, self-reliant, and be able tocontrol their progress at their own pace. This can be achieved with the aid of emerging newtechnologies such as 3D printing. In the current research work, a 3D printed model wasdesigned and developed. The open-source repository of 3D printable model designfiles forthe basic building blocks to represent chemical formulas of different elements such as carbon,hydrogen, other elements, and related organic as well as inorganic compounds are beingshared freely. These models feature a lock and key design, like jigsaw puzzle pieces, alongwith Braille and print notation that allow learning to be more interactive, engaging,productive, and effective as the sense of touch (tactile) is one of the primary ways throughwhich visually impaired people perceive physical entities. Each elemental piece in the modelis designed specifically as per its available bonding electrons, i.e., valency, allowed only to connect with another complementaryelement in a unique configuration to ensure their correct arrangement and representation using the lock-and-key feature. The concept of hybridization is also included for enhanced learning