If you put a blindfold on, would you be able to tell one CD from another? That's pretty much what blind people have to deal with all the time. Recognizing the problem, Mitsubishi Japan created CD-Rs with Braille printed on the label side so the blind would be able to tell one disc from another. In a pack of 10, each 700-MB recordable CD has its own identity written in Braille.

To create the Braille dots, Mitsubishi printed the labels with two layers high-viscosity ink, which allowed for characters to protrude up to 0.1 millimeters from the surface of the disc. In addition, the rest of the label is printed with extra-smooth ink so the dots stand out as much as possible. Great innovation, though it probably means this technology is out of the realm of home inkjets for now. You could get special ink for Braille labeling, I suppose, but it's doubtful there would be enough demand for the industry to offer it.

Of course, there's no reason this technology couldn't be used for DVDs and other media, so expect more Braille discs to come down the pike soon. — Peter Pachal

Mitsubishi Kagaku Media, via Cool Hunting