Enabling-Technologies in the Childhood1
The project “Additive Manufacturing: Enabling Technologies in the Childhood” explores the complex sociotechnical and ethical implications of 3D-printed prostheses for children with limb differences, using the case of the Turkish initiative “Robotel Türkiye” (part of the global e-NABLE network). Over a period of three years, the project engaged in ethnographic fieldwork including in-depth interviews, ethnographical conversations, and participatory observations with children using 3D-printed prosthetic hands, their families, volunteer makers, engineers, and healthcare professionals. The methodologically qualitative research was realized in close partnership with “Robotel Türkiye” volunteers.
Rather than focusing solely on design processes or technical functionality, the project takes a sociological/ STS perspective that foregrounds the lived experiences of children and their embodied interactions with assistive technologies. Central to the project was the development of a socio-bio-technical probes kit, a research tool co-designed and tested with the children themselves, which enabled them to actively participate in the research process. Beyond data collection, children were also involved in shaping the methodological process itself, contributing ideas, tools, and forms of inquiry – in line with Citizen Science approaches that value participants as co-researchers. This approach challenged conventional hierarchies of knowledge production and highlighted children’s agency in shaping and evaluating assistive technologies.
The study also examined the digital infrastructures—such as online maker communities, social media platforms, and open-source repositories—that facilitate the dissemination of prosthetic designs and influence perceptions of disability, normality, and technological enhancement.
Through its qualitative, child-centered methodology, the project offers critical insights into the interplay between technology, medicine, and society. It contributes to discussions on the social shaping of technology, the socio-technical and ethical aspects of bodily modification in pediatric contexts, and the possibilities of more inclusive, participatory innovation practices.
By situating children not merely as recipients but as co-creators of technology, the project opens up perspectives for more just and responsive futures in assistive design.
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Figure 1: The socio-(bio-)technical probes kit, photo: Melike Şahinol, 2018
Related publications
Şahinol, M. (2025). Soma-technische Erfahrungen: Ethnographische Gespräche mit Kindern mit Prothesen aus dem 3D-Drucker. In R. Stock, C. Meier zu Verl, M. Şahinol, M. Spöhrer, A. Volmar, A. Wagenknecht, & A.-L. Wiechern (Eds.), Dis/Ability und digitale Medien: Interdisziplinäre Perspektiven auf Technologien, Praktiken und Zugänglichkeiten (Kapitel 9). Springer Nature.
Stock, R., Meier zu Verl, C., Şahinol, M., Spöhrer, M., Volmar, A., Wagenknecht, A., & Wiechern, A.-L. (Eds.). (2025). Dis/Ability und digitale Medien. Interdisziplinäre Perspektiven auf Technologien, Praktiken und Zugänglichkeiten. Springer Nature.
*Şahinol, M. (2022), “3D printed children’s prostheses as enabling technology? The experience of children with upper limb body differences”, Journal of Enabling Technologies, Vol. 16 No. 3, pp. 204-218. https://doi.org/10.1108/JET-02-2022-0017
*Bieling, T., Şahinol, M., Stock, R. and Wiechern, A. (2022), “Access and tinkering: designing assistive technologies as political practice–A discussion with Zeynep Karagöz, Thomas Miebach and Daniel Wessolek”, Journal of Enabling Technologies, Vol. 16 No. 3, pp. 231-242. https://doi.org/10.1108/JET-01-2022-0005
Şahinol, M. (2020). Enabling-Technologien zwischen Normalität und Enhancement: 3D-gedruckte Prothesen für Kinder von Maker*innen. In M. C. Bauer & L. Deinzer (Eds.), Bessere Menschen? Technische und ethische Fragen in der transhumanistischen Zukunft (pp. 159-182). Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-662-61570-6_9
Şahinol, M. “Eklemli Üretim: Çocuklukta Olanak Sağlaya Teknoloji (Turkish) / Additive Manufacturing: Enabling-Technologien in der Kindheit (German)”, Newsletter April/ Nisan 2017, Orient-Institut Istanbul
Blog contributions & news
Şahinol, Melike, Impressions on the lecture “How to make a difference: Free 3D printed devices for earthquake victims“ given by Zeynep Karagöz (Robotel Türkiye), Orient-Institut Istanbul Blog, 3 April 2023, https://www.oiist.org/impressions-on-the-lecture-how-to-make-a-difference-free-3d-printed-devices-for-earthquake-victims-given-by-zeynep-karagoez-robotel-tuerkiye
Şahinol, M. “Enabling-Technologien in der Kindheit“. Themenportal „Resilienz und Innovation“ / “Technologische und gesellschaftliche Umbrüche“, Max Weber Stiftung. 4.8.2022. https://www.maxweberstiftung.de/themenportal/beitraege/enabling-technologien-in-der-kindheit.html
🦾 Additive Manufacturing
Explore more blog posts from the research project “Additive Manufacturing: Enabling Technologies in the Childhood” – including ethnographic fieldwork, 3D-printed prostheses, maker culture, and participatory methods.
View All Posts- CfP: “Children as Active Agents in STS: Participatory Approaches and Beyond” (Panel @ 4S 2025 Conference, Seattle) (12/17/2024)
- Eine Vielfalt von Körperzukünften: Human Enhancement und die sozio-technische Perspektive (5/11/2023)
- new blog post “Impressions on the lecture ‘How to make a difference: Free 3D printed devices for earthquake victims’ given by Zeynep Karagöz (Robotel Türkiye)” (4/4/2023)
- New publication: 3D printed children’s prostheses as enabling technology? The experience of children with upper limb body differences (9/29/2022)
- Access and tinkering: designing assistive technologies as political practice–A discussion with Zeynep Karagöz, Thomas Miebach and Daniel Wessolek (9/5/2022)
- Arts & Design, Open Source & DIY Perspectives on Dis/ability (07 July 2022, 6-7 pm CEST | 12-1 pm EST | 7-8 TRT) (7/2/2022)
#MWSLieblingsorte – Das MakerLab in Istanbul, Max Weber Stiftung (15.10.2019)
September 9, 2022: “When children with 3D printed prosthesis feel like super heroes”, STS conference “Doğa ve Kültür Ayrımının Ötesinde” (engl. “Beyond the Nature and Culture Dichotomy”), Türk-Alman Üniversitesi, Istanbul (Turkey).
February 24, 2022: “Das Soziale und das Technische gemeinsam denken: 3D gedruckte Prothesen für Kinder als Enabler?”, Soziologie-Gesprächsreihe, Institut für Soziologie, Türkisch-Deutsche Universität Istanbul (online).
January 21, 2020: “3-D printed prostheses and empowerment in the childhood”, Workshop: Technology and the Body: Care, Empowerment and the Fluidity of Bodies, Orient-Institut Istanbul (Turkey).
October 13, 2019: Science Fiction Becomes Reality – Human Augmentation und Enhancement durch 3D-gedruckte Prothesen?, turmdersinne-Symposium 2019: Bessere Menschen? Technische und ethische Fragen in der transhumanistischen Zukunft, October 11-13, 2019, Nürnberg (Germany).
September 5, 2019: Crippling the Transition to the Extraordinary? Enabling Technologies and Extra_Ordinarity, 4S Annual Meeting “Innovations, Interruptions, Regenerations”, September 4-7, 2019, New Orleans (Louisiana).
September 11, 2018 “Teknolojik Gelişme ve Hassas Gruplar. Tasarım ve Sosyoloji Perspektifinden 3 Boyutlu Yazıcıdan Protezli Çocuklarla Görüşmek –Bir Disiplinler Arası Yaklaşım”, STS TURKEY conference (Middle East Technical University, Ankara), together with Zeynep Karagöz (Robotel Türkiye), Melis Dursun (Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi)
April 18, 2018: Enhancement und Vulnerabilität. Die Befragung von Kindern mit Prothesen aus dem 3D-Drucker, Kick-Off Meeting „Digitale Selbstvermessung zwischen Empowerment und neuen Barrieren“ of the project “Digitale Vulnerabilität zwischen Inklusion und sozialer Robustheit”, Hochschule Furtwangen University & Schrader Stiftung (Darmstadt, Germany)
July 7, 2017: CRISPR.kitchen Berlin German biohacker and maker gathering (presentation of 3D printed hand prothesis) (Berlin, Germany)
June 20, 2017: 360°-Envisioning Workshop, European Parliament /Science and Technology Options Assessment Brussels, on additive bio-manufacturing: 3D printing for medical recovery and human enhancement (invited as expert) (Brussels, Belgium)
Related (Thematic) Interviews
Radiointerview: Melike Şahinol: Toplum 5.0 ve Sağlık Sektörünün Geleceği (Society 5.0 and the Future of the Health Sector), von Yıldız Tuğba Kurtuluş Kara, ST Endüstri Radyo (29.10.2020)
GiD Lab: Interviewreihe – Melike Şahinol stellt sich vor: https://gid.hypotheses.org/2733, Videointerview: https://gid.hypotheses.org/2475, Max Weber Stiftung: Geisteswissenschaft im Dialog(22.09.2020)
#MWSLieblingsorte – Das MakerLab in Istanbul, Max Weber Stiftung (15.10.2019)
Fünf Fragen an Melike Şahinol, Research Fellow, Orient-Institut Istanbul. In: TATuP – Zeitschrift für Technikfolgenabschätzung in Theorie und Praxis, TATuP 1/2018, (http://www.tatup.de/index.php/tatup/article/view/105/159)
- developed in the context of the DFG-funded research network Dis-/Abilities – Disability and Non-Disability in the Context of Digital Media (2020–2024, Project ID: 439948242), with the project being associated through the network membership of Melike Şahinol. While not directly funded by the DFG, the project was informed by and contributed to the network’s ongoing discussions and collaborative exchanges. ↩︎