This Braille Label Printer Helps Blind Friends and Family Grab the Right Pill Bottle, received 2026 01 06
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Colin Howard
Jan 6, 2026, 1:51:35 AM (4 days ago) Jan 6
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CNET - Monday, January 5, 2026
Greetings,
Interesting, hope anticipated developments take place when it could be
extremely useful to other family and friends who assist blind people.
Ever reached for the wrong medicine bottle but saw the label in time to
avoid taking it? For the blind, mistaking medications can be harder to
avoid - and potentially dangerous. At CES 2026, I saw a way to prevent those
mistakes that's a bit cheaper than the common labeling method. It also uses
a voice interface instead of typing.
Blind people have used label makers to print labels in Braille for some
time, but they're expensive, costing upward of $1,250. Mangoslab's Nemonic
Dot is a new competitor in the Braille label niche with a somewhat cheaper
$995 price tag. The printer is envisioned as a way for family and friends to
help their blind loved ones.
Mangoslab is a startup that spun off from Samsung's internal C-Lab research
department to launch its Nemonic sticky note printer years ago. At CES
Unveiled this year, the group showed off its evolution of that printer in
the Nemonic Dot. It's a plastic box about the size of a stack of drink
coasters that wirelessly connects to a smartphone. Using a proprietary app,
people speak the label content and text-to-speech translates that first into
text and then into Braille words. These are printed out on a sticky strip
that can be attached to whatever is being described.
At CES 2026 Unveiled, Mangolab showed off its Nemonic Dot printer -- note
the bright green label emerging from it, and behind it in this photo, pill
bottles labeled in orange labels.
David Lumb/CNET
At the Unveiled booth, sample items easily mistaken for each other were
labeled with Nemonic Dot strips, from salt and pepper shakers to painkillers
and probiotics, all in identically sized bottles. With the strips, they
could be told apart.
Conventional electronic Braille label makers use direct text typing, either
with the Perkins-style Braille button configuration or a standard QWERTY
keyboard. The Nemonic Dot is an entirely voice-based interface: you say a
word aloud, and it's converted to text and then Braille on the smartphone
app.
I watched as the Nemonic Dot app translated spoken words to text, though I
saw it have a hard time discerning long, specific words of common medicines
(acetaminophen, paracetamol). It was hard to tell if the misfire was due to
the din of the crowded floor or the app not hearing correctly -- when it was
closed and reopened, it comprehended and translated the spoken words
correctly.
Conceivably, an external text-to-speech service could read this back to a
blind person to ensure the word they're printing is accurate, but the
Nemonic Dot as I saw it seems conceived as a device for sighted people to
print labels for their blind friends and family. While there's nothing wrong
with that, it does cater the device toward a different demographic than
conventional Braille label makers -- at least until more blind-friendly
features are introduced in the Nemonic Dot app.
The Nemonic Dot has an expected price of $995, though it could change before
the product goes on sale in the second quarter of 2026. Standard sticky tape
refills cost $5, and owners can also buy firmer copper tape, though
Mangoslab hasn't yet finalized a price for that.
https://www.cnet.com/tech/braille-label-printer-blind-pill-bottle-mangoslab-memonic-dot-ces-2026/#ftag=CADf328eec
David Goldfield,
Blindness Assistive Technology Specialist
http://www.DavidGoldfield.com
Director of Marketing,
Blazie Technologies
http://www.BlazieTech.com
JAWS Certified, 2022
NVDA Certified Expert
Subscribe to the Tech-VI announcement list to receive blindness technology
news, events and information.
Email: tech-vi+...@groups.io
http://www.DavidGoldfield.com
Colin Howard, living in Southern England, hopes you and your family,
acquaintances and friends are enjoying a peaceful, prosperous and happy
2026.
Greetings,
Interesting, hope anticipated developments take place when it could be
extremely useful to other family and friends who assist blind people.
Ever reached for the wrong medicine bottle but saw the label in time to
avoid taking it? For the blind, mistaking medications can be harder to
avoid - and potentially dangerous. At CES 2026, I saw a way to prevent those
mistakes that's a bit cheaper than the common labeling method. It also uses
a voice interface instead of typing.
Blind people have used label makers to print labels in Braille for some
time, but they're expensive, costing upward of $1,250. Mangoslab's Nemonic
Dot is a new competitor in the Braille label niche with a somewhat cheaper
$995 price tag. The printer is envisioned as a way for family and friends to
help their blind loved ones.
Mangoslab is a startup that spun off from Samsung's internal C-Lab research
department to launch its Nemonic sticky note printer years ago. At CES
Unveiled this year, the group showed off its evolution of that printer in
the Nemonic Dot. It's a plastic box about the size of a stack of drink
coasters that wirelessly connects to a smartphone. Using a proprietary app,
people speak the label content and text-to-speech translates that first into
text and then into Braille words. These are printed out on a sticky strip
that can be attached to whatever is being described.
At CES 2026 Unveiled, Mangolab showed off its Nemonic Dot printer -- note
the bright green label emerging from it, and behind it in this photo, pill
bottles labeled in orange labels.
David Lumb/CNET
At the Unveiled booth, sample items easily mistaken for each other were
labeled with Nemonic Dot strips, from salt and pepper shakers to painkillers
and probiotics, all in identically sized bottles. With the strips, they
could be told apart.
Conventional electronic Braille label makers use direct text typing, either
with the Perkins-style Braille button configuration or a standard QWERTY
keyboard. The Nemonic Dot is an entirely voice-based interface: you say a
word aloud, and it's converted to text and then Braille on the smartphone
app.
I watched as the Nemonic Dot app translated spoken words to text, though I
saw it have a hard time discerning long, specific words of common medicines
(acetaminophen, paracetamol). It was hard to tell if the misfire was due to
the din of the crowded floor or the app not hearing correctly -- when it was
closed and reopened, it comprehended and translated the spoken words
correctly.
Conceivably, an external text-to-speech service could read this back to a
blind person to ensure the word they're printing is accurate, but the
Nemonic Dot as I saw it seems conceived as a device for sighted people to
print labels for their blind friends and family. While there's nothing wrong
with that, it does cater the device toward a different demographic than
conventional Braille label makers -- at least until more blind-friendly
features are introduced in the Nemonic Dot app.
The Nemonic Dot has an expected price of $995, though it could change before
the product goes on sale in the second quarter of 2026. Standard sticky tape
refills cost $5, and owners can also buy firmer copper tape, though
Mangoslab hasn't yet finalized a price for that.
https://www.cnet.com/tech/braille-label-printer-blind-pill-bottle-mangoslab-memonic-dot-ces-2026/#ftag=CADf328eec
David Goldfield,
Blindness Assistive Technology Specialist
http://www.DavidGoldfield.com
Director of Marketing,
Blazie Technologies
http://www.BlazieTech.com
JAWS Certified, 2022
NVDA Certified Expert
Subscribe to the Tech-VI announcement list to receive blindness technology
news, events and information.
Email: tech-vi+...@groups.io
http://www.DavidGoldfield.com
Colin Howard, living in Southern England, hopes you and your family,
acquaintances and friends are enjoying a peaceful, prosperous and happy
2026.
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