BrailleRap: re-making an opensource braille printer for meaningful engagement by Saad & Vicky

SKU KB2 Category: Knowledge Hub

Curious about opensource or projects that help people with disabilities? Come join us as we look at a device that’s designed to do both while being locally made.
At this session we present how we replicated an opensource hardware project to engage communities, address sustainability challenges, and make things that make sense.
Introducing the BrailleRAP braille embossing device, what it’s for, why opensource matters, and how the project was replicated in Bhutan, Singapore, Philippines, Germany, and soon in Cameroon, Thailand, and Cambodia
At this Knowledge Hub session we demonstrate the braille embossing device, its components, how each of its parts brings different people together to make it work.
The device will also be made available at the Maker Faire showcase after the session.
Let’s talk about how opensource and making is more than just the tech, it’s about people, and care. We are what we co-create!

About Victoria and Saad:

Victoria is a researcher, organizational designer and facilitator working at the intersection of digital innovation, sustainability, and global collaboration. With a background in cultural anthropology and manufacturing, she focuses on inclusive approaches to technology and has supported numerous international projects involving makerspaces, frugal innovation, and open hardware. Victoria is particularly interested in how local production and community-driven innovation can contribute to social and ecological transformation. She has collaborated with initiatives across Africa, Latin America, and Eastern Europe, and continues to build bridges between grassroots innovation and global networks.

Saad is a Singapore-based geek, maker, and coffee epicure. Co-founder of SpudnikLab, a startup that works to address the digital divide through digital skills education and low-cost technologies. He initiated EdibleMakerspace that brings together art and citizenScience through food and fermentation. Saad also initiated SalvageGarden, a non-profit makerspace for assistive technology. Saad serves on the advisory boards of the Global Innovation Gathering and r0g_agency for open culture and critical transformation.