Spring Grove Area High School eleventh grade student, Alex Fiorillo has designed an iPad cover to assist those who are visually impaired with using an iPad. His fellow high school student, Valerie Alonso Rosado, uses an iPad with the LAMP Words for Life Communication app to aid her with communication. Due to her vision impairment, Valerie is unable to distinguish the keys on the iPad screen. She was in need of a keyguard to provide raised navigation to feel each key individually. Raised navigation aids were added using hot glue but it proved to be an ineffective solution.
Speech/Language Pathologist, Mrs. Laura Bowser, thought a 3D printed keyguard may be the solution Valerie needed. She reached out to teacher, Mr. Brian Hastings, who is also the advisor of the Rocketry Club, which frequently uses 3D printers to create parts for their rockets. Mr. Hastings enlisted the help of student, Alex Fiorillo, who is a member of the Rocketry Team and has 3D printed many parts for the team.
Mrs. Bowser provided Alex with a template that he used to 3D print the keyguard, but the printed template was found to be bulky and awkward for Valerie to use. Using 3D printing design software, Alex got to work creating his own keyguard design. After several revisions and prints, Alex landed on a prototype that was approved by Valerie!
See/read about it in the news:
York Dispatch (may need a subscription to read)
