ARTURO PELAYO: "It proves that, regardless of where you are and who you are, you can be enabled by technology to make your life experience better."

An innovative Kiwi is about to teach astronomy to blind students with the help of 3D printer technology. It will be a first for New Zealand's education system with a pilot programme set to launch next year.

Designer and entrepreneur Arturo Pelayo is the brains behind Tactile Astronomy, a programme that aims to use technology to help teach blind students.

He says there is potential to improve the quality of what can be achieved from 3D printing.

At the moment things such as toys and hearing aids are printed using the technology.

But, as costs decrease and printers become more accessible, there are greater options for serving those at a disadvantage when it comes to learning.

The pilot programme will be carried out at the Blind and Low Vision Education Network New Zealand (BLENNZ) Homai Campus in south Auckland.

The project has backing from the Blind Foundation and Auckland-based 3D printing business Vivenda.

Pelayo says Tactile Astronomy will give teachers and students a new way of learning. "It's about equality as much as possibility . . . It proves that, regardless of where you are and who you are, you can be enabled by technology to make your life experience better."

The technology is already being used in places like museums to print replicas of fragile and precious exhibits and there is further opportunity for 3D printing to be used in the education system, he says.

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