About Us
Feel 3D Incorporated was first inspired from a previous project begun by Dr. Sinjae Hyun, a respected professor at Mercer University's Engineering School. In the first iteration of this project, Dr. Hyun and students utilized 3D printing technology to yield tactile yearbooks for the Georgia Academy for the Blind. Jack Xhemali was an integral part of this project up until COVID-19 brought a temporary halt. Once Jack began his medical education at the Medical College of Georgia, he brought Feel 3D to Augusta. In 2022, Jack and several classmates presented Feel 3D at Innovate 2022, a pitch competition, and brought Feel 3D Incorporated to life. Now as both a company and club, medical students work together to bring the 3D printed products to families and students of the blind community.
Feel 3D Incorporated is managed by a small group of volunteers led by Jack Xhemali. We provide these 3D printed family portraits completely free to any visually impaired person who request it from us. We function entirely off of donations from groups, individuals and grants, so please consider donating! To construct our 3D family portraits, each family member is scanned by a 3D scanner at the Medical College of Georgia’s Department of Medical Illustration. We then bring their portraits to life using 3D printers and install them into a wooden box frame that bears a nameplate with all of the family members engraved in both English and Braille. Additionally, we also record a short message from each family member to create an auditory component that's accessible when interacting with the portrait.
Feel 3D Inc. also participates in academic research to evaluate how this innovative modality impacts the mental and emotional health of the families of the visually impaired. We aim to use this data to further examine all the myriad of factors that influence the health of the blind community. We also conduct education research on the importance of running large-scale projects and the effect of interdisciplinary projects on self perceived student learning. If you want to help volunteer or help us in our research, please consider contacting us!