/ News
Japan Prepares to Make 3D Printed Topographic Maps Available for the Blind
3D printing has made navigating a world of vague light forms or, oftentimes, complete darkness more manageable. 3D printed Braille books, some of which include raised imagery as with story and school books, have been created for severely visually-impaired children. 3D printed models that serve as illustrations for books for the blind include portrait busts that stand in for photographic portraits and architectural models. Astronomers in Baltimore, Maryland at the Space Telescope Science Institute are working on technology that will help them convert images from the Hubble Telescope into 3D, tactile graphics for those who cannot “explore celestial wonders by sight.” New developments in tactile graphics are happening rapidly, and Japan is on the leading edge in this regard.
Today, cartographic authorities in Japan announced that they are in the process of developing software with data that users can download from the internet and then, with the use of a 3D printer, produce their own, inexpensive “tactile maps…of different parts of the country.”
Behind the project is the GSI–or, Geospatial Information Authority–of Japan, which is a department of the country’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. They have engaged experts from various regions of Japan to develop the software.
Thanks to extensively considered and refined software, a 3D-printed tactile map will differentiate between highways, railway lines, and walkways. According to the press release, the maps will also include “topographical features, such as uneven surfaces and hills,” critical details that will make a tremendous difference for the maps’ visually-impaired users.
While the capacity of such maps to improve the quality of daily life of their users probably goes without saying, creators also anticipate another, invaluable application: Imagine hearing news of an impending natural disaster and proactive evacuations but not being able to navigate your way to safety. “…These maps,” explain GSI, “can be used in courses for the blind focused on earthquake- or tsunami-related evacuations and other emergencies. Notes GSI, “Maps of urban zones will be on a scale of 1:2,500 (1 centimeter equals 25 meters) while those of rural areas will be on a scale of 1:25,000 (1 centimeter equals 250 meters).
In addition to the software, which is not yet available, those who want to create the maps will need a 3D printer. Thanks to their popularity and ready availability in Japan, many users will be able to acquire 3D printers so that they can produce the maps as needed. Each sheet should cost around $1.40 to produce and the printers themselves retail in Japan for about $552 and $664. Let’s hear your thoughts on this amazing use of 3D printing to improve the lives of the visually impaired in Japan. Discuss in the 3D printed map forum thread on 3DPB.com.
Source: http://3dprint.com/16574/japan-3d-printed-maps-blind/
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Founded by Russian entrepreneur Dmitry Itskov in February 2011 with the participation of leading Russian specialists in the field of neural interfaces, robotics, artificial organs and systems.
The main goals of the 2045 Initiative: the creation and realization of a new strategy for the development of humanity which meets global civilization challenges; the creation of optimale conditions promoting the spiritual enlightenment of humanity; and the realization of a new futuristic reality based on 5 principles: high spirituality, high culture, high ethics, high science and high technologies.
The main science mega-project of the 2045 Initiative aims to create technologies enabling the transfer of a individual’s personality to a more advanced non-biological carrier, and extending life, including to the point of immortality. We devote particular attention to enabling the fullest possible dialogue between the world’s major spiritual traditions, science and society.
A large-scale transformation of humanity, comparable to some of the major spiritual and sci-tech revolutions in history, will require a new strategy. We believe this to be necessary to overcome existing crises, which threaten our planetary habitat and the continued existence of humanity as a species. With the 2045 Initiative, we hope to realize a new strategy for humanity's development, and in so doing, create a more productive, fulfilling, and satisfying future.
The "2045" team is working towards creating an international research center where leading scientists will be engaged in research and development in the fields of anthropomorphic robotics, living systems modeling and brain and consciousness modeling with the goal of transferring one’s individual consciousness to an artificial carrier and achieving cybernetic immortality.
An annual congress "The Global Future 2045" is organized by the Initiative to give platform for discussing mankind's evolutionary strategy based on technologies of cybernetic immortality as well as the possible impact of such technologies on global society, politics and economies of the future.
Future prospects of "2045" Initiative for society
2015-2020
The emergence and widespread use of affordable android "avatars" controlled by a "brain-computer" interface. Coupled with related technologies “avatars’ will give people a number of new features: ability to work in dangerous environments, perform rescue operations, travel in extreme situations etc.
Avatar components will be used in medicine for the rehabilitation of fully or partially disabled patients giving them prosthetic limbs or recover lost senses.
2020-2025
Creation of an autonomous life-support system for the human brain linked to a robot, ‘avatar’, will save people whose body is completely worn out or irreversibly damaged. Any patient with an intact brain will be able to return to a fully functioning bodily life. Such technologies will greatly enlarge the possibility of hybrid bio-electronic devices, thus creating a new IT revolution and will make all kinds of superimpositions of electronic and biological systems possible.
2030-2035
Creation of a computer model of the brain and human consciousness with the subsequent development of means to transfer individual consciousness onto an artificial carrier. This development will profoundly change the world, it will not only give everyone the possibility of cybernetic immortality but will also create a friendly artificial intelligence, expand human capabilities and provide opportunities for ordinary people to restore or modify their own brain multiple times. The final result at this stage can be a real revolution in the understanding of human nature that will completely change the human and technical prospects for humanity.
2045
This is the time when substance-independent minds will receive new bodies with capacities far exceeding those of ordinary humans. A new era for humanity will arrive! Changes will occur in all spheres of human activity – energy generation, transportation, politics, medicine, psychology, sciences, and so on.
Today it is hard to imagine a future when bodies consisting of nanorobots will become affordable and capable of taking any form. It is also hard to imagine body holograms featuring controlled matter. One thing is clear however: humanity, for the first time in its history, will make a fully managed evolutionary transition and eventually become a new species. Moreover, prerequisites for a large-scale expansion into outer space will be created as well.
Key elements of the project in the future
• International social movement
• social network immortal.me
• charitable foundation "Global Future 2045" (Foundation 2045)
• scientific research centre "Immortality"
• business incubator
• University of "Immortality"
• annual award for contribution to the realization of the project of "Immortality”.
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