Apple has acquired Zurich based Faceshift in an attempt to boost its virtual reality technology.
Faceshift has developed motion capture software for facial animation that analyses facial movements of an actor and describes them as a mixture of basic expressions.
The description is then used for animating virtual characters in movies and game production.
In gaming, the software can be used to replicate a players facial expression through avatars to provide a more immediate and realistic experience.
Similarly, in movies the technology can be used to improve the process of animating characters and make them closely mimic actors’ facial movements.
The company’s work can also be seen in the upcoming Star Wars movies where its technology was used to make the non-human characters look more humanlike.
Rumors about the acquisition surfaced previously, but neither company confirmed the reports.
Apple has been on an acquisition spree of motion capture, facial recognition and augmented reality startups for quite some time now.
PrimeSense, Polar Rose and Metaio are some of the European companies that Apple acquired in recent times, and Faceshift is expected to help Apple expand its virtual reality expertise.
