Touchable Memories: New Technology Lets You Feel a Photograph

Photography Tips

We are the collectors of memories, the keepers of information. As photographers we hold a large and significant job in this world. We create visual recollections of moments, objects, and feelings for ourselves or to pass along to future generations. However, there are those whom photographs have no effect on – the blind. How would they feel if they could ‘touch’  these memories?

Many of us may take our memories and our vision for granted. But the idea of being able to remember a special moment is very important, especially to those not able to look back to a photograph.

Director Marco Aslan and his creative team captured a wonderful and moving short—from the loss of eyesight, to the importance of memories to the joyous moment of a tangible one. Although, in the end, the video is an advert for a 3D printer, these people’s ecstasy of literally feeling a photograph for the first time and reminiscing details of the event, is very real.

They could ‘feel’ the body language,  an article of clothing, and the spacial details of a room. They could ‘see’ themselves in the photograph—something they had never been able to do before.

This short excites one about the future of visual and printing technologies, and what it will mean for millions around the globe.

And as photographers who rely on their eyes, it put things into perspective.

“To me, a memory is something that we hold onto, but with time it fades a little. It’s really important to take memories back so we can remember everything that we’ve been through in life.”