VISION 2026 Sets New Exhibitor Record and Drives Future-Oriented Innovation
On behalf of our International OptoIndex, we had the pleasure of spending a day at VISION 2026 in Stuttgart, meeting customers, reconnecting with familiar faces, and having many inspiring conversations about the future of the industry. It was a great opportunity to experience the dynamic nature of the industry firsthand and gain valuable insights into the latest developments and trends.
The 32nd edition sets new benchmarks with a record number of exhibitors, the VISION Start-up Award, the premiere of the Makeathon and new Guided Tours.
With 494 exhibiting companies, the 32nd edition of VISION has set a new all-time record. The world’s leading trade fair for machine vision took place from October 6 to 8, 2026, at Messe Stuttgart. Compared with the previous event in 2024, the number of exhibiting companies increased by 2 percent, while the exhibition space occupied grew by 5 percent. This underlines the continued strong demand for the international industry platform.
VISION 2026 welcomed more than 9,000 trade visitors, representing an increase of 14 percent. 46 percent of visitors came from abroad, with attendees travelling from a total of 59 countries. Europe continued to account for the largest share of international visitors. Italy, Switzerland, France, the Netherlands, Austria and Poland were particularly well represented. Trade visitors also gave the event a very positive overall rating of 1.9. 82 percent said they would recommend VISION to others. The trade fair’s strong relevance for business decisions is also evident: 90 percent of visitors are involved in investment and purchasing decisions within their companies.
“VISION brings suppliers, users and the next generation of innovative companies from around the world together in one place. This is where specific industrial requirements meet new technologies. The exchange between these stakeholders generates momentum that helps bring machine vision technologies into practical applications faster. This combination makes VISION the most important platform for the international market,” says Roland Bleinroth, President and CEO of Messe Stuttgart.
VISION’s international appeal was also evident among exhibitors. 66 percent of the exhibiting companies came from outside Germany, representing a total of 34 countries. More than 30 percent were exhibiting at the trade fair for the first time. International participation and the share of first-time exhibitors therefore once again remained at a consistently high level. The mix of established international companies and new market entrants gives the event additional momentum.
“The atmosphere among the companies was excellent, and the diverse supporting programme gave VISION a noticeable additional boost. VISION is much more than a trade fair: as a true networking event, it brings people together, fosters the exchange of ideas and creates opportunities for new partnerships,” confirms Daniel Sailer, Chairman of the VDMA Machine Vision Division.
Young companies provided further highlights. A total of 31 start-ups presented themselves at the VISION Start-up World and at the BMWE joint stand Young Innovators. Both platforms gave young companies the opportunity to showcase their technologies and ideas to an international professional audience and establish valuable contacts within the industry.
Another highlight for the start-up community was the presentation of the “VISION Start-up of the Day” and “VISION Start-up 2026” awards, recognizing innovative solutions from emerging companies. The “VISION Start-up of the Day” award went to Phaseform, eyeo imaging and TiHive. eyeo was named “VISION Start-up 2026”.
Prestigious VISION Award Recognizes Technological Excellence
The VISION Award, endowed with €3,000, recognizes outstanding technological achievements in the field of industrial machine vision. The 2026 shortlist included AIT Austrian Institute of Technology with PHOTODEX, Lidwave with Odem, Medabsy, photonicSENS and Singular Photonics. photonicSENS was selected as the overall winner.
The first-ever VISION Makeathon added a particularly hands-on innovation element to the trade fair. Working in interdisciplinary teams, participants developed approaches to real-world machine vision challenges within a single day at the event. The challenges focused on Circular Economy and Smart Farming. Industry experts and specialists from ITQ supported the teams, which presented their results at the special exhibition area at the end of each day.
The Guided Tours provided an opportunity to experience specific application areas of machine vision first-hand. Several industry-specific tours explored exciting applications in Automotive & Battery, Aerospace & Defence, and Electronics & Semiconductors. They were complemented by the VDMA AI Tours, which for the first time focused specifically on the use of artificial intelligence in machine vision and production processes.
Motek and Bondexpo, EFX – Expo for Electronics Manufacturing, and Quantum Effects took place alongside VISION. With a single ticket, visitors could access all five events, bringing together machine vision, automation, electronics manufacturing and quantum technologies. The synergies worked extremely well, providing clear added value for exhibitors and trade visitors alike, and are set to continue in the future.
Since 1988, VISION has brought together the international machine vision industry and showcased the broad range of technologies and applications across the sector. The 32nd edition combined a new exhibitor record and strong international participation with highly positive feedback from trade visitors, as well as new formats for start-ups and young talent. With this, VISION 2026 sent a strong signal for an innovative industry and an optimistic outlook for the next generation of machine vision.
The next VISION will take place from October 24 to 26, 2028.
