Rumor: Apple acquires real-time motion capture firm Faceshift

Posted:
in General Discussion edited September 2015
A report on Friday claims Apple has potentially purchased Faceshift, a Swiss firm working on real-time facial motion capture animation through proprietary markerless technology.




Unlike traditional motion capture technology, which uses stick-on markers as reference points to track facial expressions, Faceshift's solution relies on powerful facial recognition software and 3D sensors to drive animations. The company's previous offerings included Faceshift Studio, a piece of software that featured animation plugins for Maya and Unity. Various consumer iterations were in development, including a Skype plugin for real-time animated chats.

Citing a Swiss company registry filing from August, MacRumors notes Faceshift was recently acquired by an outside company, with three corporate directors replaced by Baker & McKenzie attorney Martin Frey. While Frey does not appear to have prior connections to Apple, the Cupertino company has been known to conduct legal operations through Baker & McKenzie.

Further, key employees like Doug Griffin, a veteran in the computer graphics industry, and Steve Macdonald are seemingly no longer with the company, as seen in their respective LInkedIn bios. Apple is staying mum on the subject, however, as are former employees.

Apple does not comment on rumor or speculation, a company representative said.





If Apple did indeed purchase Faceshift, it wouldn't be the first time the company expressed interest in facial recognition technology with its wallet. In 2010, Apple bought Polar Rose, a Swedish firm that developed software capable of recognizing users based on facial characteristics. Apple also acquired Israeli PrimeSense in 2013, a company best known for its collaboration on Microsoft's Kinect system for Xbox.

Apple's interest in facial recognition and 3D rendering technology is well documented in the company's patent portfolio. Not much has been seen in the way of shipping products outside of the Photos app, which recognizes faces for automatic image sorting.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 18

    Hello, gaming!

     

    If Apple can blend this into their APIs for devs, it will be a spectacular advantage for everyone.

  • Reply 2 of 18
    Hey, Siri ... You're beginning to look a lot like Shrek!
  • Reply 3 of 18
    cpsrocpsro Posts: 3,192member

    Steve Jobs will be hosting next week's keynote.

  • Reply 4 of 18
    I'm not sure if this story is about something new or not, but this technology has been used in game by Sony Online Entertainment (which was just purchased by Daybreak games) since at least 2012 in the game Everquest 2. They call it SOEmote.

    http://www.tomshardware.com/news/SOEmote-EverQuest-SOE-MMORPG-Live-Driver,16701.html
  • Reply 5 of 18
    cpsro wrote: »
    Steve Jobs will be hosting next week's keynote.
    If true, the trolls will be required to start hate these guys, the way they hate on Siri.

    They're going to replace Michael Fassbender's head digitally with a CG Steve Jobs, like they did for Paul Walker in Furious 7.
  • Reply 6 of 18
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Giffen View Post



    I'm not sure if this story is about something new or not, but this technology has been used in game by Sony Online Entertainment (which was just purchased by Daybreak games) since at least 2012 in the game Everquest 2. They call it SOEmote.



    http://www.tomshardware.com/news/SOEmote-EverQuest-SOE-MMORPG-Live-Driver,16701.html



    The newer company obviously has a much improved version of that facial tracking software. In fact, they seem to be using depth sensors as well as photographic input.

  • Reply 7 of 18

    This is very intriguing. I've always wanted to create a "mascot" for my company and products to be an on-screen host/narrator. With tech like this I might be able to be my own "talent" behind the character I create and not have to learn the complex facial and body animation techniques.

  • Reply 8 of 18
    radarthekatradarthekat Posts: 3,842moderator
    This could create an entire part-time career/hobby for me, creating YouTube videos I do voice impressions, hundreds of voivces, never professionally, but if I could use my voice to animate characters, I could perhaps create some very entertaining videos.
  • Reply 9 of 18

    Facial motion capture can also be used to improve accuracy of speech recognition, by observing lips/mouth/jaw movement and expressions which provides additional inputs for speech recognition beyond just the audio input to improve accuracy. Doubt Apple bought this for gaming. This is Apple's continued commitment to improve speech input for Siri.

  • Reply 10 of 18

       PrimeSense = Semiconductor for tiny 3D sensor.

    +         Metaio = Augmented reality and computer vision.

    +     FaceShift = Facial Motion capture for movies & games.

     

    If the iPhone 6S has a 3D camera based on the PrimeSense technology, there will be a gold rush for applications.

    Metaio and FaceShift appear to be 2 advanced tools suites for for a 3D camera.

    The potential applications are endless.

  • Reply 11 of 18
     
    The potential applications are endless.

    Say more?
  • Reply 12 of 18
    Would be awesome for facial recognition to unlock the phone. Maybe a face and voice scan. Cool
  • Reply 13 of 18
    subbies wrote: »
    Would be awesome for facial recognition to unlock the phone. Maybe a face and voice scan. Cool

    fingerprint is easier and quieter and perhaps harder to spoof.
  • Reply 14 of 18
    Wow! Amazing technology. Apple TV's future is looking so bright!
  • Reply 15 of 18
    tenlytenly Posts: 710member
    jnaina wrote: »
    Facial motion capture can also be used to improve accuracy of speech recognition, by observing lips/mouth/jaw movement and expressions which provides additional inputs for speech recognition beyond just the audio input to improve accuracy. Doubt Apple bought this for gaming. This is Apple's continued commitment to improve speech input for Siri.
    I doubt they bought it solely for a single purpose. No doubt they recognize many possible applications for this technology and will likely pursue several in parallel - which could definitely include gaming. Apple already provides many features/APIs to help game developers create better/faster games. Why is it so hard to imagine that they might use technology from this acquisition to extend, enhance or improve development options for game designers?
  • Reply 16 of 18
    I just read this thread, a bit late. Lots of great ideas here. I would add, though, the recent articles that have Apple working with DOD are yet another use for this tech.
  • Reply 17 of 18
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by palomine View Post



    I just read this thread, a bit late. Lots of great ideas here. I would add, though, the recent articles that have Apple working with DOD are yet another use for this tech.



    Reportedly, their involvement with the DOD only extends to wearables and flexible electronics.

  • Reply 18 of 18
    cornchipcornchip Posts: 1,945member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by AppleSauce007 View Post

     

       PrimeSense = Semiconductor for tiny 3D sensor.

    +         Metaio = Augmented reality and computer vision.

    +     FaceShift = Facial Motion capture for movies & games.

     

    If the iPhone 6S has a 3D camera based on the PrimeSense technology, there will be a gold rush for applications.

    Metaio and FaceShift appear to be 2 advanced tools suites for for a 3D camera.

    The potential applications are endless.


     

    This combined with that Israeli camera company they bought recently could be pretty insanely complimentary also.

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