There's no telling just how Apple might be planning to use its latest purchase in future products, especially since Apple is not at the moment a video game company and Faceshift's tech would seem perfect for that sort of application.Īpple's extreme secrecy when it comes to projects currently extends to its much-rumored development of a car. Interestingly, of that sum, the vast majority - $120 billion - will be generated by augmented reality, whose technology isn't as developed and whose existing hardware is aimed mainly at enterprise customers ranging from doctors in surgery (whose monitors pop up in their field of view) to oil workers on remote platforms (who can follow repair instructions out of the corner of their eye). Virtual reality faces first big consumer test in $99 Samsung Gear VRĪccording to Digi-Capital, AR and VR combined are expected to be a $150 billion business by 2020, as entertainment companies, media giants and the gaming industry look to exploit the new technology to lure in consumers. And next year Sony will unveil Project Morpheus for PlayStation, Microsoft is expected to release a developer kit for its HoloLens augmented reality glasses, and Facebook-owned Oculus Rift also should be unveiling a dev kit for its much anticipated $1,500 product. Samsung just released its $99 Gear VR goggles, which use a Samsung smartphone to power VR content that ranges from games to entertainment. Take a picture of a few friends on your iPhone FaceShift automatically detects their faces Tap the screen to add more face boxes, touch and hold to remove face boxes.
Many analysts believe 2016 will be a watershed year for AR/VR tech.
Apple declined to confirm the acquisition to TechCrunch, simply saying "Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans." Rumors of the Apple purchase had surfaced earlier in the year, but TechCrunch cited unnamed sources Tuesday in confirming the report. The tech was used in the new Star Wars movie, out Dec. Now it's adding another company to its quiver, Swiss-based Faceshift, whose motion capture tech allows animated avatars to double the facial movements of real actors. SAN FRANCISCO - As the virtual- and augmented- reality wars heat up, Apple is making sure it stays competitive with occasional acquisitions such as AR pioneer Metaio and 3D sensor outfit PrimeSense. Faceshift's real-time motion capture work in the gaming and chat arena could be used for things like real-time avatars for FaceTime video chats, but there are also more serious applications such.