Vision, the world's leading trade fair for machine vision, is rapidly approaching. Project Manager Florian Niethammer outlines what awaits visitors at Vision 2016.

What's new this year at Vision?

First and foremost, the new technological developments that our exhibitors will be showcasing. Vision showcases the trends in the industry – with regard to the event in November, this means that we will see cameras that process information even more quickly and precisely. However, there will also be solutions showing the use of machine vision systems, without the use of which Industry 4.0 is impossible. Machine vision is increasingly indispensable when it comes to guaranteeing 100% product quality in more and more sectors and the technology is also steadily growing in importance in non-industrial sectors. Apart from the latest technical trends, we notice that Vision is also becoming even more international. We are seeing striking growth, particularly with companies from the Asian region, specifically from China, who are ever more confidently showcasing their products on the European market. We will achieve an international percentage of almost 60 percent this year.

What are the technological trends at Vision? What are the focal themes in 2016?

In our opinion, this year's Vision has three main technological 'hot' topics: embedded vision, 3D machine vision and hyperspectral imaging. A high-calibre open forum will be held on the first day of the trade fair on embedded vision. Numerous established market leaders, as well as a number of new and up-and-coming companies, will be showcasing in Stuttgart what makes the technology possible. The Vision Award will be presented once again to a company that is launching a pioneering idea on the market.

Machine vision standards, a constant current theme on the market, will also be presented at Vision – the European Machine Vision Association (EMVA) is organising a special exhibition on this with other partners. Machine vision in the food and drink industry and in the transport sector are other focal themes at Vision 2016.

Is there a USP that sets Vision apart?

The complete range of machine vision technology will be showcased at Vision like at no other event – totally making the event the world's leading trade fair. Vision is the market place for all component manufacturers and a platform for system providers and integrators. Here in Stuttgart, OEMs, machine constructors and system houses can find out about the latest innovations and end users can meet a host of system integrators.

What highlights await visitors at Vision?

One of the key features is the comprehensive forum programme at Vision with some 90 talks this year. At the "Industrial Vision Days" and the "inspect application forum" experts from around the world will discuss precisely the latest hot topics – whether "production control with self-learning smart cameras" or "chemical fingerprinting: new possibilities for industrial machine vision" – the individual titles of the talks show the impressive focus of knowledge and expertise gathered at Vision over these three days. The forum programme is perfectly complemented by the "School of Vision" where visitors to the trade fair can acquire compressed specialist knowledge, practical hints and application knowledge in 14 sessions. Important machine vision institutes will also present the latest research topics during the "VDMA Technology Days". Three days filled with perfect machine vision: the industry has waited two years for this and, here at Messe Stuttgart, we look forward to things taking off soon!