Report: Physical AI needs senses. Sound is one of them.

AI has given robots increasingly powerful brains. Now they need the senses to match.

As robots move out of controlled environments and into spaces shared with people, understanding what's around them becomes just as important as deciding what to do next.

In a new strategic insight, global market research firm Yole Group describes imaging, sensing and radio-frequency (RF) technologies as the “sensory nervous system of a new generation of machines.”

About the insight
Yole Group's Sensing, imaging, and RF: the three pillar technologies serving ‘physical AI’ was published on 24 September 2026. It draws on Yole's Status of the MEMS, CMOS Image Sensor and RF Industry 2026 reports, and features input from Bosch Sensortec, Infineon Technologies, STMicroelectronics and Sonair.

RF includes radar, ultra-wideband (UWB), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and cellular signals. These technologies can do more than communicate. They can also sense the physical environment, beyond what a camera can see.

Sound adds something different.

“Acoustic sensing sees what light cannot: glass, dark surfaces, dust. ADAR One from Sonair delivers certified 3D safety across a 180° x 180° field of view. The result is the deterministic and affordable safety layer that physical AI depends on,” said Tor Odland, CMO at Sonair, in the insight.

Yole's analysis points toward a future where perception isn't built on a single technology, but on several working together. We're glad to see Sonair included in that conversation, and acoustic sensing recognized as part of the emerging perception stack.