Apple has acquired Spaces, an American VR startup that was originally part of DreamWorks Animation. The company describes its technology as “a bridge between a VR world and Zoom, Skype, Hangouts and more”.
Spaces has not commented on the purchase at time of writing, which was first reported by the tech news site Protocol. Last week, however, Spaces announced that it is “heading in a new direction”, and that the company’s VR software for video conferencing services will be discontinued with immediate effect.
Apple, however, has confirmed the acquisition, delivering its usual boilerplate comment: “Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans,” a spokesperson said to Protocol.
The cost of the acquisition has not been disclosed.
It’s long been rumoured that Apple is preparing a major investment in VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality), so the acquisition could be part of those projects. It’s by no means the first such deal the company has made; Apple bought NextVR as recently as May.
This article originally appeared on Macworld Sweden. Translation by David Price.