Continental Europe still seems to shut down in August and who can blame them? Brits might contend with the usual two weeks, but they are spread from the end of June to the end of August. Summer is an odd time, when you never know who is away and what might be coming into the office.

I guess the last thing they wanted was to be quizzed about the industry. But, to their credit, we got some great replies. And it gives us a great insight into the industry. This is a pivotal year, not least because 2019 is the last year of the decade. And we need to ask ourselves, is machine vision coming of age? Has the sector reached the point when it can really exploit its advantages and take its true place in the industrial order of things?

Read the full issue below:

Mention machine vision to people in the street and from the majority you get a blank look. Some might have a stab at some vague notion of giving machines the power of sight, which I suppose it is, but beyond that they have little understanding. Our sister publication, RoboPro Magazine, has no such problems – everyone knows what a robot is and what it means, rightly, or wrongly, to them.

But machine vision effects everyone in their daily lives, from parking their car to receiving the correct package from the courier. It is so entwined in our daily lives that remove it, and life could not continue as it does know.

One thing that does come across from our chat with the bosses, is the sense of optimism for the future. And that’s because this sector not only has critical traction (it is not blue-sky thinking), but because it has so much growth in front of it. The future does indeed look rosy. And it will be interesting to see how this is reflected at Vision 2018, the last one before the new decade.