Another great year at the Photonics West conference! The Lore Technology/ Wilco Imaging team attended the San Fransisco based show at the end of January, 2023. SPIE reports that 22,000 registered attendees joined this event of 1,400+ exhibitions. SPIE CEO is quoted as citing this year as "one of the best SPIE Photonics Wests ever" (SPIE.org) as the expansive exhibit included BiOS, LASE, OPTO, Quantum West, and AR|VR|MR.
SPIE is the premiere event to interact with industry leaders and companies on the cutting edge of innovation and optical advancements.The conference also hosts a job fair, technical talks, keynote presentations, and panel discussions and lunch and learns. These sessions cover a wide range of topics related to photonics, including optical design and engineering, optoelectronics, laser technology, imaging, and sensing. SPIE Photonics West offers an excellent opportunity for attendees to stay informed about the latest developments and advancements in the field, and to network with other professionals and discover exciting new technologies. There was entirely too much to see and not enough time, but that didn't stop our team from trying!
We stopped by the AR|VR|MR event to look at the all the hardware and various companies pushing advancements in augmented, virtual, and mixed reality. We were particularly impressed with the wearable technology and the various smart glasses on display. Smart glasses are wearable-technology devices that display information to the user through lenses or projections. They use optical waveguide technology for lens display capabilities made of nanotechnology components. They also have sensors, accelerometers, internet connectivity, and smart software to process information and interact with the user.
Next, we headed over to the main exhibit hall and stopped by all of our favorite partner exhibits. We stopped by Basler's booth and spoke with Jim about the latest Basler news, including the news of dramatically improved lead times, and easing of supply chain disruptions.
And as any engineer will tell you, no application is quite complete without lighting to improve optics and image quality. Our partners at Advanced Illumination explained their product's use in applications such as food inspection, washdown applications, packaging, automotive, medical (among others). They cited some case studies of lighting used in factory bottle inspection, factory keg production, and automotive manufacturing. They offer extremely unique lighting solutions and offer the ability to configure a lighting system to fit each exact need.
We also couldn't miss the Videology booth, where we were able to see first hand, the brand new artificial intelligent zoom camera system, SCAiLX. See our extended blog post for more information about this newest camera option. We expect demo units to be ready to ship as soon as May of this year. Contact us if you are interested in trying out this camera.
We also stopped by the expansive Edmund Optics booth to speak with Nicholas Sischka about all of the exciting developments in optics that they were show casing. A clip of that conversation can be seen below. We carry the complete line of Edmund Optics machine vision lenses, so let us know if you need assistance finding the best Edmund Optics lens for your application!
Wilco Imaging sales rep, Andre Paige reflects that "the conference was a great time to meet the people you work with that are outside of your organization, and also a great time to see new products that will be launched throughout the year." Our team was able to connect with clients and our valued partners while seeing some innovative technology on full display. Did you attend the SPIE conference, or are you planning to next year? If so, let us know!
Sources:
SPIE celebrates triumphant 2023 Photonics West, with more than 22,000 registered attendees
