At this year’s Photonics West, MVPro spoke with Glenn Jackling, Owner and CEO of Applied Image, about the company’s role in supporting the growing ecosystem of photonics and machine vision technologies.
Applied Image has been a specialist in calibration targets and optical test artefacts since its founding in 1978. The company manufactures precision components that are used to calibrate and validate imaging systems across a wide range of applications, from industrial inspection and scientific research to advanced photonics instrumentation.
For Jackling, who joined the company as CEO over a decade ago before acquiring the business in 2021, the core mission of Applied Image is straightforward: provide customers with reliable standards that allow their imaging systems to measure the world accurately.
The Importance of Calibration
As imaging systems become increasingly sophisticated, calibration has become even more critical. Machine vision, photonics and measurement systems depend on consistent, traceable reference standards to ensure accuracy.
Applied Image produces these standards using a combination of specialised manufacturing techniques. On the macro side, the company creates calibration patterns on photographic materials, capable of producing features down to around 20 microns. For higher-resolution requirements, the company uses glass substrates and lithography processes to create micro-scale structures with features as small as 700 nanometres. Once manufactured, these parts are carefully measured and validated within Applied Image’s ISO-accredited laboratory. The company operates under ISO 9001 quality standards and maintains ISO 17025 accreditation for calibration, ensuring that its artefacts are traceable to recognised measurement standards. This traceability provides customers with confidence that their own systems are accurately calibrated. In many industries, particularly those operating under regulatory frameworks, this level of credibility is essential.
Key Headlines
1. Precision Calibration Matters
Applied Image produces highly accurate calibration standards that ensure machine vision and photonics systems deliver reliable, traceable measurements.
2. Custom Solutions Drive Innovation
Around 80% of the company’s work is tailored to specific customer requirements, supporting specialised imaging systems across a wide range of industries. English (United States)-transcr…
3. AI Still Depends on Optical Accuracy
While AI is transforming image analysis, the performance of any vision system still depends on properly calibrated cameras, optics and sensors.
Custom Solutions for Complex Systems
Unlike many manufacturing businesses, Applied Image operates largely as a custom solutions provider. According to Jackling, around 80% of the company’s work is driven by specific customer requirements rather than standard catalogue products. Customers often approach the company with unique challenges: a new optical instrument requiring a calibration target, a prototype imaging system needing validation, or a specialised inspection system that demands highly specific optical features.
Applied Image’s engineering and sales teams work closely with customers to understand the application and determine the most appropriate design, materials and manufacturing processes. In some cases, the result may be a single prototype component; in others, it may become part of a larger production supply chain if the component is integrated into a customer’s product.
This flexible approach allows the company to serve a broad range of sectors, reflecting the diversity of applications where photonics and machine vision technologies are used.
A Growing Ecosystem
During the conversation, Jackling also discussed the broader photonics ecosystem and how companies like Applied Image fit within it. Rather than building complete imaging systems, Applied Image supports the infrastructure that makes those systems reliable. Wherever photonics-enabled systems are used to measure, inspect or analyse the world, calibration standards are needed to validate performance. The company’s customer base reflects this diversity. Its top customers represent dozens of different use cases across industries and technologies, highlighting the expanding reach of imaging and photonics systems.
For Jackling, that diversity represents opportunity.
As machine vision and photonics technologies continue to advance, new applications are constantly emerging from industrial automation and medical imaging to scientific instrumentation and advanced sensing systems. Each of these systems requires accurate testing and validation.
The AI Conversation
No discussion about imaging technologies today would be complete without mentioning artificial intelligence. However, Jackling suggests that while AI is transforming how imaging data is analysed, it has had less direct impact on Applied Image’s core business. AI may change the sophistication of the algorithms analysing images, but it does not eliminate the need for accurate calibration of the optical system itself. Cameras, lenses and sensors still need to be validated to ensure that the data being captured is accurate. In other words, AI may improve interpretation, but it cannot compensate for poor measurement foundations.
Looking Ahead
Events like Photonics West provide an opportunity for companies across the photonics industry to explore emerging technologies and identify new market opportunities.
For Applied Image, the focus remains on expanding into new segments that rely on lithography-based optical components and calibration artefacts. As imaging systems become more advanced, the need for precise measurement standards is only likely to increase.
In a technology landscape often dominated by software innovation, Applied Image’s work is a reminder that the physical foundations of imaging systems remain essential. Calibration, traceability and optical precision continue to underpin the performance of the world’s most advanced vision systems.
Learn more at https://www.appliedimage.com/
