Apple Inc. has quietly absorbed iKinema Ltd., a developer of motion capture software whose products are used in the production of films, virtual reality content and video games.

The iPhone maker confirmed the deal today after MacRumors broke the news on Thursday afternoon. “Apple buys smaller companies from time to time, and we generally don’t discuss our purpose or plans,” it said in a brief press statement, which follows the standard text the company uses to acknowledge acquisitions.

London-based iKinema started out in 2006 as a spinoff from the University of Surrey’s space engineering lab. The company provides a software engine that can take motion capture data, such as movement patterns produced with the help of an actor wearing sensors, and use the measurements to animate a virtual character. Visual-effects artists can customize the software-generated movements to different situations and environments.

Though it has kept a relatively low profile, iKinema boasts a sizable lineup of notable customers. The company’s software is used by Microsoft Corp.’s video game development studio, Walt Disney Co., Sony Corp., Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp. and others. 

There are multiple areas where Apple could make use of iKinema’s technology. The iPhone maker reportedly plans to spend $5 billion on producing original shows for its video streaming service and at least some of those projects will no doubt employ motion capture. Moreover, Apple provides augmented reality features in iOS that employ a form of motion capture to create three-dimensional emojis, the quality of which could potentially be improved with iKinema’s animation generation technology.

The financial terms of the acquisition are not known. Regulatory filings indicate that iKinema had 20 employees as of 2018, and the startup’s website, which has mostly been taken offline, still had its content up at the end of August, which suggests the deal closed recently.

Apple has made a number of other acquisitions this year. The company in July inked a $1 billion deal to buy the bulk of Intel Corp.’s mobile modem business and earlier picked up Drive.ai Inc., an autonomous vehicle startup founded by Stanford University researchers. 

Photo: Pixabay