Scaling Sensor Fusion - Industry blog

April 17, 2026

Rethinking Sensing - Brighter Signals Featured in the Industry Blog Post by Autosence and IN Cabin

Occupancy data various poses Brighter Siganls

When the Automotive industry community of Autosence and In Cabin wanted to feature the thought leaders in the future of In-cabin Safety they reached out to Brighter Signals COO Christine Fraser for her input. 


A blog post published by INCabin on the 16th of April, 2026, highlights some of the challenges that the industry is currently facing when trying to deliver to the regulators and customers.


The Blog post features both Christine Fraser from Brighter Signals and Dr. Halina Niemiec from Magna discussing not only the challenges but also the future industry trends and how sensor fusion and data integration are the key to successful solutions.


Christine discusses how safety is still critical, and central, to the In-Cabin experience. There are still over a million global road traffic deaths annually. Regulatory bodies such as NHTSA, Euro-NCAP, and C-NCAP continuously raise the bar on these safety standards. Knowing who is in the cabin, and if they are sitting correctly, is critical information when choosing how to protect them in the event of accidents. Automotive manufacturers can not ignore the need for precise, reliable and cost-effective occupant classification and protection. The quality of data input is more imperative than ever. 


The growing demands for both safer and more intelligent cockpits mean some of the traditional technologies used for Occupancy Classification are no longer viable. They do not supply rich enough data to satisfy these growing demands. In addition to function and cost of sensors, reliability of data and integration of data are important considerations when determining the right solution architecture.  


Unfortunately, traditional sensing technologies cannot accurately replicate what humans feel. As we move towards more software defined vehicles the intelligence of the systems is defined by the quality of data that it can use. This means there is a growing opportunity for a new generation of sensors that operate in real-time with a high degree of accuracy, reliability and durability. 

 While cameras and radar are well-suited for monitoring the exterior of moving vehicles, the interior presents very different safety and comfort requirements that these systems are not ideally equipped to address.


Touch is one of our most important senses. It helps us feel and can have a profound effect on our emotional reactions. Vision alone has empowered so much but is it really the best way for us to understand how we interact with the seats and surfaces.  


Knowing what is happening on all sides of the human body is helping complete and round out the full data-circle. At Brighter Signals, we can help quantify the comfort and in-cabin satisfaction metrics; empowering a new travelling experience based on a deeper understanding of how we interact with and trust our cars.  


Read the full blog post https://incabin.com/blog/in-cabin-2026-safety-magna-and-brighter-signals/


Read the Brighter Signals Automotive White Paper for more insights


Or come to INCabin USA to hear Christine present





< Older Post

Search Blog

Recent Post

Brighter Signals - Our First Year

By Andrew Klein • April 9, 2026
It is almost 12 months to the day we looked each other in the eye and said “lets start this company together”

Brighter Signals Awarded Eurostars Grant Worth €500K

By Andrew Klein • March 17, 2026
Brighter Signals and Seed Robotics have been awarded non-dilutive funding to incororate sensors into robotic hand

Brighter Signals Presents at Robotics and AI-enhanced Wearables event in the UK

By Andrew Klein • February 13, 2026
As a follow up to talking at IROS Brighter signals were invited to speak at the AI-enhanced wearables event in the UK on 11th of February 2026
LuStellingerff joining righter Signals

Welcoming Ludo to Brighter Signals

By Andrew Klein • February 10, 2026
We are delighted to welcome Ludo Stellingwerff to the Brighter Signals team. Ludo is a highly talented and exerienced Software, Systems & Solutions Architect.

Brighter Signals secures financing from Innovatiefonds Noord-Holland for developing fabric-based sensors to detect human touch and pressure

By Andrew Klein • January 13, 2026
Brighter Signals B.V. a startup based in Amsterdam, has received a €328,000 convertible loan from Innovatiefonds Noord-Holland. Brighter Signals is developing a new type of sensor to detect human touch and pressure. These highly accurate, fabric-based sensors enable new safety and comfort features in automotive applications and provide robot grippers and humanoid robots with advanced grasping capabilities. The funding supports several projects with car manufacturers, Tier-1 automotive suppliers, and leading robotics developers. These initiatives focus on the technical and commercial validation of the Brighter Signals platform, which combines flexible textile sensors, integrated electronics, and embedded software for real-time pressure and position detection. This investment will accelerate the engineering, testing, and certification work required to bring the technology to mass production. The company and technology are already attracting significant interest from both automotive and robotics sectors. Edward Shim, Co-Founder & CTO of Brighter Signals: “This investment from Innovatiefonds Noord-Holland comes at a pivotal moment as we validate and scale our technology toward industrial production. Our sensors demonstrate that soft, lightweight materials outperform the incumbent and more expensive sensing systems, offering higher resolution and more accurate results at lower cost. This funding will accelerate our development and bring us closer to commercial deployment.” Ludolf Stavenga, Fund Manager at Innovatiefonds Noord-Holland: "Brighter Signals' tactile sensors offer clear advantages over existing technologies and support promising applications in the automotive, robotics, and other sectors. We are pleased to support the company during this critical phase." About Brighter Signals Brighter Signals is a startup based in Amsterdam developing flexible, fabric-based tactile sensors for automotive, robotics, and other markets. Based on patented sensor technologies created by Edward Shim, the platform delivers high-resolution pressure mapping, durability, and seamless integration into complex surfaces. Brighter Signals partners with global car makers and their Tier-1 suppliers to enable next-generation in-cabin safety and comfort applications, and collaborates with leading robotics manufacturers to give human-like touch to industrial grippers and humanoid hands. https://www.brightersignals.com/ About I n novatiefonds Noord-Holland Innovatiefonds Noord-Holland is an initiative of the Province of North Holland, University of Amsterdam, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, Amsterdam UMC, and Sanquin. The fund supports entrepreneurs in the province of North Holland by financing innovation in the Proof-of-Concept phase through convertible loans. Innovatiefonds Noord-Holland manages two funds: one for innovative startups, supported by RVO, and one for academic startups, supported by EFRO. www.innovatiefondsnoordholland.nl For more information Andrew Klein, Co-Founder & CEO of Brighter Signals: andy@brightersignals.com , +31 6 2366 0310 Ilmatar Lutje Schipholt, Investment Manager at Innovatiefonds Noord-Holland: Ilmatar.LutjeSchipholt@innovatiefondsnoordholland.nl, +31 20 246 0024