The drive to ever smarter and more automated devices results in the need for these devices to sense their environment as well as or preferably better than humans. Optical thin film coatings are a key ingredient in elevating sensory performance. The ability to see at wavelengths and speeds beyond the human eye is key to a span of things ranging from 3D sensing in smartphones to LIDAR systems in automotive. Many applications require miniaturization of sensors which requires new approaches for optical interference filters to deal with large angle ranges. For different applications in the automotive market we show examples how this can be realized.