Photonics meets intelligence: How light connects machines, devices and people

Premstaetten, Austria, and Munich, Germany (October 27, 2026) – With 21 product and technology demonstrations at electronica 2026, ams OSRAM shows how light is becoming a key technology for the digital world: The applications on display capture information from their surroundings, enable new forms of interaction and support intelligent systems in mobility, smart devices, healthcare and industry.

“Light is increasingly becoming the basis of technology that captures and processes information and makes it usable for digital applications. At electronica, we will show how combining light sources, sensors, ICs and software opens up new possibilities for interaction, perception and intelligent systems,” explains Conrad Rodriguez, Executive Vice President Global Sales at ams OSRAM. “Whether in vehicles, smart devices, healthcare or industrial automation, as Photonics Powerhouse we have the technology and systems expertise to advance these developments together with our customers.”

 

In vehicles, light becomes an intuitive interface

This development is particularly visible in vehicles, where light, sensors and user interfaces are increasingly converging. ALIYOS™ Bond Vision combines LED-on-foil technology, optical bonding, display integration and interactive functions to create nearly seamless user interfaces. Light is thus increasingly becoming a communication medium inside the vehicle. 

Optical Force Sensing (OFS) expands the possibilities for interaction between people and vehicles by detecting touch, pressure and contact even on closed surfaces. This is complemented by in-cabin sensing solutions that can detect, for example, a person’s direction of gaze or signs of fatigue. Light therefore not only displays information; it also becomes part of the system’s perception.

Smart devices use light as a source of context and interaction

In smart devices, too, light is taking on new roles as an interface between people and systems. One example is eye-tracking solutions for smart glasses. They detect the user’s direction of gaze and enable intuitive control of AR applications.

Active Spectroscopy takes a different approach: Rather than tracking eye movements, the technology provides information about materials, objects, or the surrounding environment.

Light makes health data and therapeutic approaches more accessible

Optical sensing is also bringing healthcare applications closer to people’s everyday lives. Vital Sign Monitoring provides continuous access to physiological data such as heart activity and helps put health parameters into context. Light-based measurement methods are also increasingly being used outside traditional medical settings, for example by integrating optical sensors into everyday devices such as smartphones.

Light based technologies are being explored for potential new therapeutic concepts. A ingestible light therapy capsule was developed to treat inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn’s disease and delivers light directly to the site of inflammation in the intestine. At the booth, a clear visual demonstration shows how modern infrared technologies can be used in an extremely compact space for new MedTech applications.

Light provides machines with orientation and context

In industrial automation and robotics, light helps machines perceive their surroundings more precisely and control processes more selectively. Multizone dToF captures distance information at multiple zones simultaneously (3D-depth-map) providing spatial information for navigation, object detection, and automated processes. EVIYOS™ Shape, by contrast, uses pixelated light to project digital guidance directly into the physical environment, supporting visual guidance in safety-critical applications or industrial processes.

ams OSRAM systems expertise provides the common foundation 

The applications on display are underpinned by the interplay of light emitters, optical sensors, IC technologies and intelligent data processing. This systems expertise also includes the European full-service foundry operated by ams OSRAM. At electronica, the company will provide an outlook on the continued development of its 180 nm technology platform with a new 5 V process variant for specialized analog and mixed-signal applications.

Visitors can experience these and other applications at electronica from November 10 to 13 in Hall C5, booth 379, under the motto “Sense the power of light.”