A couple of months ago it was reported that Apple had apparently acquired facial motion capture technology firm FaceShift. The Cupertino company did not confirm it back then and this was based on the fact that FaceShift’s employees no longer listed the company as their place of work, and the board of directors had also been replaced by a company that used to work for Apple.
For those curious about what Apple might have planned for the company, it looks like the rumors have been confirmed. According to a boilerplate statement given by Apple to TechCrunch, “Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans.”
Now for those unfamiliar with FaceShift, the company used to work with gaming and animation studios. Their technology involved being able to quickly and accurate capture facial expressions via sensors. Unfortunately it is unclear as to what Apple might want with such a company. Getting into the gaming to animation business certainly does not sound like Apple.
We’re also not sure what use facial motion capture would have when it comes to Apple products like the iPhone, iPad, or even their Mac computers. Either way since Apple tends to be secretive about these sorts of things, we guess we’ll just have to wait and see if future Apple products might have related technology.
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