GelSight®, a pioneer in surface analysis technology, today announced that its Modulus™ surface measurement system has been named to TIME’s list of the Best Inventions of 2026. The honor follows Modulus’s selection as a Fast Company 2026 Next Big Things in Tech honoree in the Robotics & Automation category, announced on October 6.
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GelSight’s Modulus™ surface measurement system has been named to TIME’s list of the Best Inventions of 2026. The honor follows Modulus’s selection as a Fast Company 2026 Next Big Things in Tech honoree.
Since launching in July 2025, Modulus has been adopted by teams in aerospace, defense, automotive, and advanced manufacturing across North America and Europe. Customers include the U.S. Department of Defense and Rolls-Royce.
Modulus delivers micron-level surface measurements in places conventional tools cannot reach, such as the inside of bores, tubes, and engine components. Built on gel-based tactile sensing that originated at MIT, it is designed like an advanced DSLR camera system, so inspectors can hot-swap lenses and cameras in the field. That lets one device handle a wide range of inspections without disassembly, surface replicas, or destructive testing. Modulus was initially developed with the U.S. Army’s DEVCOM Aviation & Missile Center and maintainers at Corpus Christi Army Depot to address rotorcraft inspection challenges.
“The hardest places to measure are often the most critical ones,” said Youssef Benmokhtar, CEO of GelSight. “Being recognized by TIME and Fast Company is a credit to the engineers who built Modulus and to the customers who trusted it early and pushed us to keep improving it.”
That improvement continued in May 2026, when GelSight introduced High Resolution lenses and GelSight Mobile™ 4.4 software. They bring lab-grade roughness measurement to the shop floor and can be added to existing Modulus devices with a lens swap.
Last week, TIME revealed its annual list of the Best Inventions, which features 300 extraordinary innovations changing our lives. To compile the list, TIME solicited nominations from its editors and correspondents around the world, and through an online application process, paying special attention to growing fields such as health care and AI. TIME then evaluated each contender on key factors including originality, efficacy, ambition, and impact. See the full list at ti.me/best-inventions.
Fast Company’s Next Big Things in Tech awards highlight technology breakthroughs the magazine expects to have a positive impact on consumers, businesses, or society over the next five years. Fast Company recognized GelSight for taking machine sensing into the realm of touch.
To request more information or schedule a demonstration of Modulus, contact info@gelsight.com or visit gelsight.com.
About GelSight
GelSight is a pioneer in digital, imaging-based surface analysis. The proprietary technology that was invented at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology provides extremely detailed and rapid surface characterization, enabling several surface measurement applications and robotic sensing capabilities. Its elastomeric 3D imaging systems are currently in use in aerospace, automotive, forensics and in many robotic research labs throughout the world. GelSight is Digital Touch and Feel. For more information, please visit https://gelsight.com/.
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