Facial motion capture seems like it would be more suited towards gaming or video creation purposes. However according to a recent rumor, it seems that Apple could be interested in the technology. The reports claim that Apple might have recently acquired a company that specializes in facial motion capture technology called FaceShift.
Unsurprisingly neither FaceShift nor Apple have confirmed the acquisition. However even if they did, we’d probably expect a boilerplate response from the Cupertino company. That being said, some have speculated it to be true due to former employees of the company who have since updated their LinkedIn profiles.
The update profiles now states that they no longer work for FaceShift. The company’s board of directors has also been replaced by a firm that had previously handled Apple’s Swiss IP. The company’s main product, FaceShift Studio, has also been discontinued. Apple typically discontinues products of companies they acquire, so that’s another sign.
We’re not sure what Apple intends to do with the technology, assuming the acquisition rumors are true to begin with. Some have suggested it could be incorporated into Apple TV to help create some kind of avatar for users. In any case take it with a grain of salt for now, but maybe we will find out soon.
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