Apple has acquired SensoMotoric Instruments, a German eye-tracking and augmented reality company.
Founded in 1991 and based in Teltow near Berlin, SensoMotoric primarily develops eye-tracking hardware and software for industrial and commercial use. According to the company, the solutions can be applied across a wide range of fields, including neuroscience, clinical research, VR and also AR.
Apple acquired SensoMotoric through a shell corporation called Vineyard Capital Corporation. Gene Levoff, vice president of corporate law at Apple, signed the business documents for Vineyard Capital, in relation to the acquisition.
Like most of Apple's small acquisitions, the company did not publicize the acquisition, giving the same reply: "Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans."
After being acquired, SensoMotoric removed blog entries, some of the contents from its website, as well as shutting down its support channels.
Apple in acquiring SensoMotoric is Apple's next stepping stone that further escalate rumors about its attempt on AR. Apple's CEO Tim Cook has shown an excitement when speaking about AR, stating that it could be as big as mobile and it is investing a lot of time into the new technology.
Apple launched ARkit at WWDC 2017, a framework for app developers to build AR apps for the iPad, with IKEA as one of the first launch partners.
