Is Faceshift An Addition To Apple's VR Arsenal?

Apple has acquired a Zurich-based animation firm Faceshift that has sparked off speculation about the Cupertino giant's virtual reality efforts.

After establishing that the acquisition indeed took place, Tech Crunch contacted Apple but did not receive any details of the acquisition. Faceshift's facial motion capture features in upcoming Star Wars flick The Force Awakens. It has also been demonstrated by Intel. Though it has not been applied for purposes other than gaming and film, it would not be hard to imagine applications in security and virtual reality.

Faceshift's technology creates animated avatars by capturing expression from the face. The technology is a boon to the animation industry as it makes the otherwise difficult facial animation, easy.

Rumors of Apple's acquisition of the startup began to do the rounds nearly two months ago but it was not until recently that a confirmation was received, TIME reports.

According to Mac World, the acquisition of Faceshift could be in line with Apple's augmented reality efforts given that Microsoft, Google and Facebook are in the race. Apple has acquired other similar firms in the past including Polar Rose, PrimeSense and Metaio. It remains to be seen if any of these acquisitions, Faceshift included, translates into products that Apple's customers will use.