You cannot see it all, as they say, especially with 500 exhibitors and 136 speakers to chose from over three days, so here is our list of the talks and presentations not to miss at this year’s VISION exhibition, which starts tomorrow at Messe Stuttgart.
First and foremost, Warren Clark, the CEO of Imaging and Machine Vision Europe, will present the five finalists and announce the winner of the VISION Award 2026 on Wednesday, 7 October, 2026 at the Industrial VISION Days stage (Alfred Kärcher Halle (Hall 8), 8C70) from 11am-12pm.
You can read more about the finalists – AIT Austrian Institute of Technology; Lidwave; Medabsy; photonicSENS; Singular Photonics – here.
Friends of Imaging and Machine Vision Europe
Michael Stelzl, the Managing Director of MSTVision, will host a forum on ‘Illumination techniques for high-speed PhotometricStereo using FPGA/GPU/CPU’, at Industrial VISION Days (Alfred Kärcher Halle (Hall 8), 8C70) on Tuesday, 6 October, 2026, at 2.20pm.
Stelzl, who is both one of Imaging and Machine Vision Europe’s Visionaries and a member of The Photonics100 (from IMVE’s sister title, Electro Optics), will present a holistic approach to photometric stereo, using new high-speed lighting systems and efficient load balancing across FPGA, GPU, and CPU. Attendees can discover how MSTVision accelerates surface inspection for both area and line scan camera applications.
Find out what the IMVE Visionaries think about AI, trade shifts and future integration
Fellow Photonics100 alumnus Pouya Rajaeipour, CTO of Phaseform (Hall 8, Booth 8E60.19), will be talking about ‘Algorithm-Driven Optics: 63 Degrees of Freedom for AI-Controlled Imaging’ during the Start-Up Session on Tuesday, 6 October, 2026, at Industrial VISION Days (Alfred Kärcher Halle (Hall 8), 8C70), from 3.20pm-4.10pm.
Antonio Castelo, Technology Expert at EPIC and a Photonics100 alumnus, will open the EPIC Technology Meeting on Computer Vision Systems and Applications at 10am on Wednesday, 7 October, at Kongress West, W3.
The meeting will focus on new technologies and components for machine vision systems, and to define their future applications, needs and challenges to be solved by the existing solutions.
Speakers include fellow Photonics100 honouree Stefan Weber, the CEO and Co-Founder of Phaseform, who will talk on ‘From Glass to Algorithms: High-Order Wavefront Correction for Compact Vision Systems’ at 10.55am.
Is machine vision ready for its robot uprising?
In his opening keynote, ‘Application and technology trends in humanoid robotics’, Dr Werner Kraus, the Head of Research Division Automation and Robotics at Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation, will draw on current IPA research and benchmarking activities, including a July 2026 visit to 14 humanoid robotics companies in China to provide an evidence-based overview of the field – Tuesday, 6 October, 2026, from 9.30-10am at Kongress West, W1.
The talk will also explore emerging technology trends, initial industrial applications and development dynamics in China, the US and Europe.
A roundtable of international machine vision and industrial automation experts will explore the impact of humanoid robots on the machine vision landscape in the ‘Will Humanoids kill traditional Machine Vision Systems?’ discussion at Kongress West, W1, on Tuesday, 6 October, 2026, from 2.45-3.30pm.
The panel, which includes Jeff Burnstein, President of the A3 Association; Francesco Ferro, CEO & co-founder of PAL Robotics; Dr Reinhard Lafrenz, the Secretary General of euRobotics; Dr Ronald Müller, Managing Advisor, Strategy and M&A in Machine Vision at EMVA; and Christian Vollrath, Head of Computer Vision at Wenglor Sensoric Group, will examine where humanoids may substitute traditional vision systems, what opportunities this creates for manufacturers, and what it means for the machine vision market. They will discuss the trade-offs in accuracy, adaptability, cost, and application domains, concluding in a short- and mid-term outlook on the adoption of humanoids.
How imaging can underpin QA during the semiconductor boom
As the AI infrastructure boom continues, and the complexity and production scale of semiconductor components accelerate, imaging plays an ever more important role in quality assurance.
Matt Moser, the Director of Product Development at Teledyne DALSA, will present ‘32k for Wafer Scale Imaging’ on Tuesday, 6 October, 2026, from 10.20-10.40am at Industrial VISION Days (Alfred Kärcher Halle (Hall 8), 8C70), where attendees can find out more about Teledyne’s 32K line scan and TDI cameras, and how they can help semiconductor manufacturers’ inspection systems to find ever-smaller defects across entire wafers at record speeds.
Maximilian Klammer, the Director of R&D at Allied Vision, will present ‘32k Line Scan Imaging for High-throughput Semiconductor Inspection’ at Industrial VISION Days (Alfred Kärcher Halle (Hall 8), 8C70) on Thursday, 8 October, 2026, from 1.20-1.40pm, which promises to show attendees how they can double their inspection precision (20 to 10µm) or wafer coverage (150 to 300mm) with a single 32K line scan camera.
Look out for more on high-bandwidth imaging from Imaging and Machine Vision Europe over the coming weeks.
Going beyond visible imaging
The hyperspectral imaging systems market is predicted to grow from $832.1m in 2026 to about $3.30bn by 2036 (CAGR 14.8%), according to Research and Markets, which goes some way to explaining the heavy presence of the topic at this year’s VISION exhibition.
James Cameron, the Global Segment Director, Food, at JAI, will look at the topic from the perspective of ‘How multispectral vision transforms food inspection’. Attendees will learn how AI, spectral imaging, and advanced machine vision technologies are improving food safety, reducing waste, and enabling smarter production decisions – Tuesday, 6 October, 2026, 12.40-1pm at Industrial VISION Days (Alfred Kärcher Halle (Hall 8), 8C70).
Tobias Kreklow, the CEO of HAIP Solutions, will present ‘Why Industrial Spectral Imaging Is Finally Taking Off’ on Thursday, 8 Oct, 2026 from 2-2.20pm at Industrial VISION Days (Alfred Kärcher Halle (Hall 8), 8C70).
Attendees will discover how advances in cameras, illumination, embedded AI and on-camera classification are transforming spectral imaging into an economically viable technology for real-time industrial inspection, sorting and quality assurance.
Imaging and machine vision standards
CameraLink, CoaXPress, CameraLink HS, GigE-Vision or USB 3? Lighting, Lens Mount, EMVA 1288 or GenICam? VDI/VDE/VDMA 2632 or VDMA OPC VISION? Standards are always a hot topic for Imaging and Machine Vision Europe readers.
Helping to clear up any confusion and make sure that users can pick the right one for the right application, Suprateek Banerjee, Director of Standards Development for Industry 4.0 at the VDMA, will provide a Global Vision Standards Update at Industrial VISION Days (Alfred Kärcher Halle (Hall 8), 8C70) on Thursday 8 Oct, 2026 from 12-12.20pm.
Meanwhile, the EMVA has organised a special show, ‘International Machine Vision Standards’, every day of the VISION exhibition, from 9am-5pm at Alfred Kärcher Halle (Hall 8), 8E46. Presented in cooperation with the associations A3 (North America), CMVU (China), JIIA (Japan) and VDMA (Germany), trade fair visitors will get a global insight into the world of machine vision standards.
Times and locations are often subject to change. Confirm at the official VISION 2026 programme.
Enjoy the show, and remember to come say hello to the Imaging and Machine Vision Europe team at Hall 8, Booth D90.
