Light as a smart network – ams OSRAM sets standards at Light + Building 2026

Premstätten, Austria, and Munich, Germany (March 12, 2026) — The question of what makes a building "smart" has been debated in the industry for years. ams OSRAM provided a clear answer at Light + Building 2026: it is light — not as illumination, but as a sensory nervous system. It perceives space, reacts to people, and provides data that goes far beyond classic building automation. The company demonstrated the significance of photonics as a key technology in the connected world with its exhibits in Hall 8.0.

Trade fair at a glance: Becoming the digital photonics leader

Light + Building 2026 brought together around 2,000 exhibitors from all over the world under the theme "Be Electrified – Electrifying Places. Illuminating Spaces."

The three main topics sustainable transformation, smart connectivity, and living light are currently driving the industry. In addition, companies need to address the pressure to decarbonize, the complexity of networked systems, and the growing realization that light needs to be rethought psychologically, architecturally, and technologically. Dr. Clemens Müller, Senior Director of Application Marketing at ams OSRAM, highlighted the company's contribution to these needs during his presentation. He spoke about the possibilities of the relatively new optical force sensing technology and its added value to the design of control elements.

This year, the company is celebrating the 120th anniversary of the OSRAM brand. In recognition of this, the company received an award from Messe Frankfurt. The anniversary is a legacy based on innovation, partnership, and the power of light. Since 1906, OSRAM has stood for progress through light and has evolved from incandescent bulbs to pioneering lighting and sensor technologies. The trade fair showed that orientation is the decisive added value in times of change, which is where ams OSRAM comes in.

The company's positioning as a specialist in digital photonics is based on a fundamental paradigm shift: light sources are becoming data points. Sensors are becoming decision-makers. And buildings are becoming learning systems — provided the photonics-based infrastructure is right. This is the strategic core of what ams OSRAM demonstrated at Light + Building 2026. Highlights at the trade fair included:

Sensors instead of mechanics: New possibilities for interface design

Whether it's an elevator control, smartphone side button, or light switch, we use sensor technology every day without even thinking about it. The fact that these simple actions involve complex requirements in terms of design, reliability, and hygiene usually goes unnoticed. Traditional controls such as mechanical or capacitive buttons take up space, restrict design freedom, and reach their limits when it comes to compact, waterproof, or easy-to-clean devices. The optical force sensing technology from ams OSRAM precisely detects different pressure levels and, in combination with infrared-transparent surfaces, enables contactless and touch-based functions. This opens new possibilities for robust, intuitive, and elegant operating concepts without traditional buttons, which enables new applications for switch technologies. Depending on the control system, they can also be used flexibly for different scenarios in the industrial, consumer, and automotive sectors.

Emergency Hub: When light saves lives

ams OSRAM also presented an integrated product showcase at the trade fair, demonstrating what happens when sensor technology, light, and control systems are combined. In an emergency, when seconds count, systems must function without human intervention. The Emergency Hub demonstrated how ams OSRAM technology can help in crisis situations. For example, one key aspect of modern emergency prevention is adapting information to a specific situation at hand. In a dangerous situation, EVIYOS™ Shape can project emergency and direction symbols onto the ground to indicate escape routes. These displays can be changed in real time, allowing escape routes to be adapted flexibly when certain areas are no longer passable. EVIYOS Shape can also be used to create a coordinated warning system featuring classic smoke detectors used in private homes. In addition to the projected symbols and acoustic alarms, a highly visible ceiling light — comparable to industrial warning lights — signals an emergency with a red flashing light.

The combination of dynamic projection and clear visual and acoustic warning helps provide orientation, shorten reaction times and safely guide people out of the building. The Emergency Hub shows that safety in buildings is not just an electrical engineering topic, but rather a systemic design objective, where photonics-based solutions can play a central role.

Light only where it is needed

In architectural lighting, EVIYOS™ Shape can be used as pixelated light to guide people, bicycles, or vehicles in a specific direction or to activate light only where an object is moving, such as along a car lane. The interaction of sensors and light ensures greater efficiency in building technology. The TMF8829 time-of-flight sensor detects whether people are present in a room, enabling demand-based control. Light is only switched on when people are in the room and switches off automatically when rooms are empty.

World premiere: The paper reel — sustainability starts in the supply chain

Sustainability is often communicated in the industry as a characteristic of end products. ams OSRAM took a different approach at Light + Building 2026 — and sparked a debate that affects the entire LED industry.

At first glance, the paper reel for LED components is unspectacular. At second glance, it is an important system argument: if a single component in the supply chain reduces the carbon footprint by around 80 percent, at comparable costs and with a weight reduction of one third — why doesn't everyone do it? The answer is industrial inertia. With the paper reel, ams OSRAM has shown that there is another way to think about sustainability, not only at the end of the value chain, but also to integrate it from the very beginning.

Growth markets: Where photonics is driving the next disruption

ams OSRAM used the trade fair in Frankfurt to highlight its strategic direction, naming applications that at first glance seem far removed from the traditional lighting market: automotive, augmented and virtual reality, artificial intelligence, robotics, smart health, and smart devices. Wherever machines need to see, measure, and react — whether in autonomous vehicles, operating rooms, or industrial robots — precise photonics are required. With more than 10,000 patents and patent applications and a presence in over 170 countries, ams OSRAM is in a position not only to accompany these markets, but also to help shape them.

Conclusion: 120 years are a strong argument

Anniversaries tend to inspire nostalgia. ams OSRAM did the opposite at Light + Building 2026. The 120-year history of the OSRAM brand was presented as proof that a company that has helped shape so many waves of technology knows how disruption works. ams OSRAM will be exhibiting at Light + Building in Frankfurt until March 13 in Hall 8.0, Booth D40. Further information on the technology can be found on the website.

Under the motto "Making the future brighter," the company is using Light + Building to focus on this year's 120th anniversary of the OSRAM brand. Further information on the anniversary can be found on the website.
 

Pictures

Here you can find pictures of the trade fair

Captions

1) Sensors and signal lights working together: In the “Emergency Hub” product showcase, a smoke detector detects hazards early on, while a highly visible ceiling warning light with a red flashing signal supports the alarm — an example of how networked photonics-based technologies increase orientation and safety.

2) In the “Emergency Hub” product showcase, ams OSRAM uses the high-performance EVIYOS™ Shape LED to demonstrate how dynamic projections can visualize escape routes in an emergency: Emergency and direction symbols are projected onto the floor in real time and automatically adapt to the situation.

3) Highly visible: the ceiling warning light integrated into the Emergency Hub signals an emergency with a red flashing light – a central element of secure, photonics-based emergency communication.

4) Light as a smart network: ams OSRAM demonstrated the potential of photonics as a key technology for the future at Light + Building 2026.

5) In 2026, ams OSRAM will celebrates the 120th anniversary of the OSRAM brand.

6) Thanks to DURIS™ E5050 from ams OSRAM, the Frankfurt skyline appears in a very special light. Together with its partner Irlbacher Blickpunkt Glas GmbH, the company is presenting a structure consisting of several illuminated glass panes.

7) Showcased for the first time: ams OSRAM and the Zumtobel Group have jointly developed an alternative to the plastic reels used to transport LED strips and components: the paper reel