I had been thinking a 3d printed lithophane would work great for a permanent coverup. They're intended to be backlit and the QR window is essentially a ready made frame.

Many slicers will have an option somewhere that will take most any image and perform the intermediate steps to produce a ready to print file, but even the ones that don't automate anything it's usually just a matter of giving them a 2d image and adjusting a few settings.

As more games are released that come with IC from the factory, I'd be shocked if we don't see tons of options showing up for sale from mod-makers, downloadable options popping up on 3D printing sites and one off jobs people cook up at home.

Here's a random example pulled off the internet of one that would look great if they did a modern remake/vault of LOTR.
litho (resized).png

My own feelings about IC and connected pins in general are mixed. I expected the reader light to be intrusive as I experience some of the issues with bright light in peripheral vision others have brought up. I was pleasantly surprised that it was not as bad as I anticipated, but it was still bad enough that it started to give me a migraine until I covered it with my phone. I've loved pinball for 40 years and I doubt IC is going anywhere. As long as it remains truly optional I've accepted I'll have to abide the advice of those who say "Don't like it then don't use it." It does affect me though, and not in a good way.

I can't help but notice there's a vocal segment of the "Don't like it then don't use it." crowd who can't seem to abide their own mantra when it comes to optional discussions about ideas they clearly don't like and won't use. I can't see how it affects them. Perhaps the mantra starts to break down when things we've loved and supported for decades suddenly integrate "options" that can't be disabled or removed and are designed in ways that detract from the experience for those who would prefer to ignore them.

Luckily pinside offers an easy way to completely hide individual threads that has no effect on any other functionality.

Dude, who hurt you?

Just drain the thread and move on.

It just seems like the EASIEST solution to something that's clearly bothering you. You don't even need a roll of tape.