Spotlight
are always developing new products and enhancing existing ones to stay ahead of industry needs.
CIE: Let’s talk about your newest product. What is ProteQ VISO, and when was it launched? SS: ProteQ VISO is our latest digital stereo microscope. Like a traditional stereo microscope, it provides separate left-eye and right-eye optical paths to create a 3D view. But the big difference is that VISO digitises those optical paths.
Inside the system, cameras capture the left and right images, and those are projected onto a flat screen. Using eye-tracking technology, the system ensures each eye receives the correct image, so the user perceives genuine depth — a true three-dimensional view. The result is a compact, ergonomic, digital stereo microscope that allows users to see and interact with their work in 3D, but without the constraints of eyepieces.
CIE: Can you explain more about the advantages of ProteQ VISO’s immersive 3D digital view, and why it’s particularly valuable for electronics inspection and assembly? SS: We work in a three-dimensional world. When you’re soldering, assembling, aligning components or manipulating tiny parts, depth perception is essential. With a 2D digital system, you lose that depth, and that can lead to uncertainty — “Have I made contact? Is that joint complete? Am I exactly where I think I am?” VISO removes that ambiguity. You can see precisely where your tool is going to land and understand shapes, contours and interfaces intuitively. That improves accuracy, reduces errors and speeds up work. Because it’s digital, you also gain capabilities that optical systems can’t offer: sharing the 3D view in real time, capturing 3D images, adding overlays and annotations and integrating the system into digital workflows. Those advantages are particularly important
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in electronics, where components are getting smaller, assemblies are denser and the need for traceability is greater than ever. Being able to capture a 3D image of a solder joint or component placement and revisit it later is incredibly valuable.
Training is another major driver. With digital stereo, trainers and trainees can see the same 3D view simultaneously, which is a huge advantage when teaching fine-motor tasks or inspection techniques.
CIE: Where is ProteQ VISO already being adopted? SS: It’s still very new, so we haven’t delivered many units to end users yet, but we’ve completed many demonstrations. Our first confirmed application is in electronics for aviation. The customer was particularly impressed by the clarity of the 3D view and the ability to work confidently with fine components.
We also have strong interest from precision engineering companies and electronics rework specialists — including organisations that harvest components from boards for reuse. Those applications benefit enormously from accurate depth perception and digital documentation.
CIE: You mentioned digital stereo more broadly. Where else is this technology being used? SS: Our DRV (Deep Reality Viewer) digital stereo systems have already been adopted in a wide range of industries. Aerospace is a big one — companies assembling or inspecting high-reliability electronics appreciate the ability to share 3D views instantly across sites. Universities are another. One example is a research group building laser assemblies. They rely on the ability to overlay images, align components precisely and document their work. The ergonomics and digital tools make a huge difference.
Training, remote collaboration and quality assurance are common themes across all these applications.
CIE: Beyond ProteQ VISO, what other standout products have shaped Vision Engineering’s reputation in electronics? SS: Mantis is the big one. We’re now on the third generation of the Mantis family, and it remains one of the most recognisable eye-pieceless stereo microscopes in the world. It offers magnifications from 3x to 15x, which is ideal for hand assembly and inspection. It also meets IPC requirements, which is important for electronics manufacturers. The latest generation includes features specifically designed for electronics, such as UV illumination for inspecting conformal coatings.
Lynx EVO is another flagship product. A Queen’s Award winner, it offers higher magnification and exceptional depth of field, with a very ergonomic viewing experience. The large working distance makes it ideal for soldering, rework and assembly lines where tools, extractors and fixtures need space.
CIE: Your products are used in some unexpected places. Can you share a few examples? SS: Absolutely — the variety is one of the most enjoyable parts of this job. One example is a company with glue manufacturing facilities in China and a head office in Germany. They need to inspect adhesives for bubble formation. But they
can’t ship samples by air because pressure changes affect the bubbles, and they can’t ship by road because vibration affects them too. So historically, engineers had to travel between sites.
With digital stereo, they can share 3D images instantly. Decisions that once required travel can now be made in seconds. Medical devices are another fascinating area. We’ve seen our systems used to inspect stents that go into arteries — even stents designed for the brain. It’s life- changing technology and knowing our microscopes play a small part in that is incredibly rewarding.
And then there’s aerospace electronics. Think about an aircraft sitting on a runway at 40°C, then flying at altitude at –40°C. Condensation becomes a real risk, and conformal coatings are essential. Our systems are used to inspect those coatings and ensure reliability.
We’ve also had our products appear in films and TV — Doctor Who, Star Trek, Inception and even Sonic the Hedgehog. They’re iconic designs, so prop departments love them!
To watch a video of CIE’s visit to Vision Engineering’s Surrey HQ — and see some of the products highlighted in this article being used — head to the CIE YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@CIEMagazine/ videos
https://www.visioneng.com/ Components in Electronics February 2026 31
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