Taipei – September 03, 2026 -- Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs showcased 31 technologies at the "2026 Meet Greater South" event on August 28, with innovations already helping manufacturers including Ability opto-Electronics Technology, Li Xiang Machinery, HIWIN Technologies, and TBI Motion Technology win orders from major international clients.
The Department of Industrial Technology (DoIT) organized the pavilion with research partners Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), Metal Industries Research & Development Centre (MIRDC), Institute for Information Industry (III), and Food Industry Research and Development Institute (FIRDI). The exhibition centered on two themes: extending AI beyond high-tech manufacturing into construction, water monitoring and food production, and driving industrial upgrading across central and southern Taiwan.
Metalens technology shrinks laptop camera lenses to 1.3mm, enters US supply chain
ITRI's Ultra-thin Structure NanoOptics Chip Technology uses a monolithic metalens combined with AI-enhanced image processing to cut laptop camera lens thickness from a conventional 2.3–3mm to 1.3mm. Ability opto-Electronics Technology, a laptop lens manufacturer, has integrated the chip into facial-recognition login modules for ultra-thin laptops, with the solution also adopted by a major U.S. laptop brand. ITRI plans to extend the technology into visible-light and thermal-infrared imaging.
AI-monitored clam behavior protects water supply for over 2 million people
III's Digital Twin Technology for Bio-Water Quality Sensing uses freshwater clams as biological sensors, with cameras tracking shell movements and AI analyzing opening-and-closing patterns and abnormal group behavior to detect water quality shifts in real time. The system is deployed at the Bansin Water Treatment Plant, the Sanxia River Pumping Station, and the Shoufeng Water Treatment Plant, which collectively serve more than 2 million people. III has licensed the technology to KETECH Scientific Instrument, expanding its application to water quality monitoring in semiconductor fabrication, printed circuit board production, and precision machining.
DoIT said the exhibition is intended to accelerate adoption of these technologies and add momentum to industrial upgrading in central and southern Taiwan.