Apple has reportedly purchased PrimeSense, an Israeli firm that made chips enabling three-dimensional machine vision. According to new reports from Reuters, the iPhone maker bought PrimeSense for $345 million. The report, though, is based on another claim from the Calcalist financial newspaper, which did not cite sources behind the report.
PrimeSense issued a statement to Reuters that made no comment on the claimed acquisition.
“We are focused on building a prosperous company while bringing 3D sensing and natural interaction to the mass market in a variety of markets such as interactive living room and mobile devices,” the statement read. “We do not comment on what any of our partners, customers or potential customers are doing and we do not relate to rumors or recycled rumors.”
PrimeSense’s technology enables 3D computer vision sensing in a manner similar to that seen on Microsoft’s Kinect attachment for its Xbox console. It would be the second Israeli firm Apple has purchased, as the company bought storage chip maker Anobit in 2012.
Apple was rumored to have been looking at PrimeSense as a possible acquisition target earlier this year. Reports at the time described the two companies as being in “advanced talks,” with the negotiated price at that time hovering around $280 million.
