Visions Podcast: Embedded AI and Smart Cameras: The Next Decade of Machine Vision

In this episode of Visions: A Machine Vision and Automation Solutions Podcast, VSD's head of content Sharon Spielman interviews Johannes Zurin of Allied Vision about the future of machine vision, covering the rise of embedded AI and smart cameras, new sensor technologies like SWIR, and growth areas such as semiconductors and defense.

The episode also discusses shifting supply chains, pricing pressure, faster development cycles, changing B2B buying behaviors, and the importance of partnerships and industry standards in accelerating adoption.

Visions: A Machine Vision and Automation Solutions Podcast, is the podcast for engineers, designers, integrators, and end users who want to keep an informed eye on the imaging and machine vision industry. Every Tuesday we will explore the latest in imaging trends, developments and solutions. Here you will find interesting, useful insights and observations from expert interviews, solo episodes, even the occasional panel discussion, all of which aim to expand your knowledge on imaging and machine vision. 

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Related: Inside Automated 2026: Cutting Edge Humanoid Robots, AI Integration, and Automation Solutions 

Transcript

Okay. So, uh, joining me today is Johannes Zorin from Allied Vision. And, I missed you in Stuttgart when I was there, for the CEO roundtable at, the VDM, a vision, event that happened, the press event. So I'm glad that you had time to catch up with us today. Thanks for joining us, Johannes.

You're welcome. Thank you.

So, uh, I know we don't have a lot of time. I will just go ahead and ask you these questions. How do you envision the machine vision market evolving over the next five to ten years? And what are the key factors driving that evolution?

So five to ten is a is a pretty long time. Um, I think the market is developing quite fast. So, um, it might go up and down, but if you look back in the last few years, you saw that, uh, it was more or less always growing with some bumps over the Covid crisis and especially afterwards with the um, storage crisis on on top. But beside that, the market is growing and I think it will further grow. So there's a lot of needs of cameras, of technology, of automation. And, uh, this is driving the market. I think it will change and maybe consolidate even further. But, we see the market still very positive and we are also willing to invest into that in the future. I think there are some specific industries, that might grow faster than others. I think on, on business like, uh, defense, which is maybe pretty new for the industrial version of, machine vision, but also Semicon has a very big cycle at the moment. Others are suffering a bit, I think automotive very difficult. but other markets are also growing with steady speed. and that's why I want to come back on, on automation in general. That's a, it's not just a trend, it's the need that we have on this earth.

Yeah. Okay. So from your unique vantage point, uh, what are the most critical innovations or technological breakthroughs that will define the future of machine vision systems?

I think, um, more or less, you're getting away from very traditional systems of, uh. Yeah. Standard PCs and standard, um, image acquisition more to more embedded systems, more smarter systems. We also have a new camera called Alex, which is more or less a smart camera, but it includes an Nvidia board. It allows you to design your own application on the device itself. So this is pretty open. So people are getting closer to, uh, to their own host system, to their own host structure. So that's a big change. I think the main change was always driven by the sensor manufacturer also. So let's see what Sony and the other ones are developing. They are also very interesting new players out in the market, especially if it comes to non-visible sensors like SWIR. For example, there you see new technologies popping up. That's also something where we have a deeper look into. So that's very interesting. And you have tons of applications where you could use them not only in defense, but also in in food production and so on. And it was always the problem that those sensors have been very expensive and the prices are now going down. New technology is coming in into the market. So the return on investment calculation for many of those applications is easier to solve for many of the potential customers. So this is something that's really interesting in the future. Um and beside that I think there will be more price pressure from Asia, especially in the low end markets. Um, but this industry is so interesting. So many, many applications are popping up every day. So I think, we still look very positive in the future.

Great. All right. So I'm going to move on to leadership and organizational challenges. So what are the leadership or organizational challenges that arise when trying to align product development with the rapidly changing customer demands in the machine vision industry? When I was in Stuttgart, that was something that they, um, really focused in on was the customer demands and how they're always rapidly changing. So do you see those biggest challenges?

Um, AI is, uh, I think everywhere, not only with us as manufacturers or as, as component manufacturers, not only with our customers that do solutions with machine vision, but also on, on end customers. So everything is, is speeding up dramatically. So that will shorten a lot of development cycles, um, on every part of, the chain here. and I think also with AI, traditional image acquisition and, and algorithm on top, this will not be the future anymore. So people might also solve, uh, at least the more easy applications by themselves with just using simple image algorithms on from AI agents. they can also program their own software around it, their own black box. it will not really change the hardware cycles, maybe just a little bit, the development cycles for sure. But, I think hardware is still needed. So I think the major shift will be on the integration and application side, not on the hardware side. what else changes? Yeah, I think people are expecting faster cycles also. So they expect faster reactions. They expect seamless interaction also on the business level. So how to interact with customers, how to, to send out order confirmations, how to buy. So, um, in the past you had like classical and offer then you send out the order in, send out, send in the order, sorry. Then you send out the order confirmation, then you get the product and so on. Today we also see that people, even on business level, they just want to pay with anything they have, like credit card or PayPal. And so B2B is also changing, I think, and, uh, the B2C behavior, the online behavior, the habits that you have, the making business as easy as possible. That's very important. And that's why, allied vision especially also is focusing on being the most customer centric company. So we want to be really close to customers, listen to them and start from the customer and then change our processes towards this. And AI is definitely a big help on, on all levels in the company.

Okay. All right. So, uh, how do you see the impact of global supply chain shifts and geopolitical factors influencing innovation and delivery in the machine vision sector?

I think there are two phases of this, um, or two sides. one thing is that you could see positive is that you get additional structure, additional systems, additional production, for example, in the US. So if you look into the chip industry and the semicon wafer electronics, this is like, um, yeah, trying to save their own supply chain. So the big manufacturers, um, so you see, uh, factories popping up in the US, you see also factories in eastern Germany, very big invest from TSMC and so on. So this is really interesting on one hand, because they need machines, they need cameras, they need applications, support and so on. Um, so that's maybe an additional driver for our industry at least. Um, but it's also critical because we are also like relying on supply. and we also see that, those supply crisis are getting more. So we had one shot after Covid. then we had a period of maybe having too much stock everywhere. And now we are again facing a big cycle in in semiconductor electronics that drives again a small crisis, at least in some of the supply parts. It's getting tight. Yeah. And if you then have on top of the political turmoil that you see, then it's getting complicated. So you could see both. Ideally this would like benefit from each other. But I see this very critical. And um, yeah, personally, I think that, uh, the world is getting back to order at some point because I think we cannot globalize, the world again. So there will be hopefully a solution to all those issues on this earth. Um, and yeah, I'm, I'm very positive and, uh, business liberal, I would say, and I would say the business is also leading, hopefully the sense of some people in the future. That's at least my idea.

Great. Thank you for that. Okay, so I have one more question for you and then I'll let you let you go here. So what role do partnerships and industry standards play in accelerating adoption and integration of machine vision technologies across different industries?

Um, as you can see at Allied Vision, we are like a one stop shop. So we have everything from um, IP calls to, to cameras to subsystems to maybe also solutions depends on how you, how you judge about solutions. But we see that it's very important, especially on the frame grabbing side on the IP call side to really deliver something that is aligned with the industry, aligned with other manufacturers, where we have like, for example, protocols or, or certificates where we really work together. I think this is driving development. This is, um, driving, uh, our industry. And even if we are competitors, sometimes we, we are also relying on those protocols on those partnerships. So I think it's very important, even though I also see that our consolidated market maybe leads to very big companies at the end. That could also drive trends by themselves. And that is maybe also normal if you look into other industries. but I think at the moment our associations like the A3, uh, where I'm also part of the, um, vision board, or the VDM a in Germany, the m v a, this is all very important. You have a lot of, uh, networking opportunities. you also know each other. It's like our industry is not that big. Uh, it depends on what you count together, but, it's very important to, to work on those partnerships to rely on them. So, um, I see this as a very important part for our industry.

Well, thank you. Thank you so much, Johannes, for spending time with us today. And thank all of you for listening. And until next time, this is Sharon Spielman with Vision Systems Design. Stay curious.