November 2, 2025

Traditional Machine Vision vs Visual Intelligence in Manufacturing

There’s a huge difference between seeing and understanding.

Traditional machine vision might detect that something is happening.

But visual intelligence?

It understands why it’s happening, and whether it matters.

So, what exactly is visual intelligence?

Think of it as the next evolution of machine vision. It doesn’t just analyze pixels, it interprets context.

It knows that the same action in two different moments can mean two completely different things.

It can recognize whether someone is adding value to a process… or just standing idle.

That’s a game-changer.

Instead of just inspecting products, visual intelligence lets you observe entire workflows with meaningful insight.

Are we maximizing value-added time? Are processes being followed? Can we detect inefficiencies before they become problems?

Kudzai Manditereza

Founder & Educator - Industry40.tv

Kudzai Manditereza is an Industry4.0 technology evangelist and creator of Industry40.tv, an independent media and education platform focused on industrial data and AI for smart manufacturing. He specializes in Industrial AI, IIoT, Unified Namespace, Digital Twins, and Industrial DataOps, helping digital manufacturing leaders implement and scale AI initiatives.

Kudzai hosts the AI in Manufacturing podcast and writes the Smart Factory Playbook newsletter, where he shares practical guidance on building the data backbone that makes industrial AI work in real-world manufacturing environments. He currently serves as Senior Industry Solutions Advocate at HiveMQ.