Mangoslab Nemonic Dot braille label printer wins Time's The Best Inventions of 2026 award

Mangoslab has won the Time's Best Inventions of 2026 award for its Nemonic Dot braille printer. The accessibility device creates compliant braille on plastic and metal labels for use by the blind and those with limited vision.

The battery-powered Bluetooth printer can be used anywhere to print labels for those with vision issues from voice or text. AI is used to automatically translate these inputs into the equivalent raised-dot patterns to be printed onto 12 mm (0.47 in.) wide labels. The AI understands over 100 input languages.

Those with sight disabilities can read the printed text by rubbing their fingers across each label. The dots are 0.6 mm high, which is the minimum height required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other legislation.

The printer and its cartridges are labeled with braille so those who have trouble seeing can use them by touch alone.

Mangoslab currently has Nemonic Dot printers deployed at 17 sites across South Korea. Schools, hospitals, and pharmacies are included in this field trial. It expects to have the printer ready for sale to the public in the final quarter of 2026.

The company is a 2016 spin-off of the Samsung Electronics' C-Lab and previously won the CES 2017 Best of Innovation Award for its Nemonic sticky-note printer (sold here on Amazon).

Readers who currently need help with learning braille and adapting to low-vision can contact the Braille Institute of America and practice reading the braille alphabet using this board on Amazon.