Alexis Macklin, Research Manager
Microsoft acquired Simplygon on Jan. 17 for an undisclosed amount to further develop Microsoft’s “3D for Everyone” vision. Simplygon, which was developed by Donya Labs AB, a privately held company based in Sweden, develops 3D-optimization solutions for game developers, focusing on helping developers create 3D content faster, streamlining the workflow. This saves AAA game studios up to 14 work weeks through Simplygon’s automated system versus a company’s manual process of 3D optimization. Simplygon CEO Matt Connors spoke at Greenlight Insights’ VRS 2016 about the company’s solution for VR/AR.
Microsoft’s push into VR and AR with HoloLens, a range of VR headsets, and 3D creation tools in the Windows 10 Creators Update will benefit from Simplygon’s 3D-optimization solutions, which renders 3D objects more efficiently. This will broaden the accessibility to computers with older and slower graphics cards. It is important to make VR/AR content creation available to general consumers to have them engage more with content. Expanding to a potential wider available population that can interact with VR/AR content will be beneficial to the industry as a whole as some consumers are curious and want to experience VR/AR technology, but do not want to spend large amounts of money.
2016: A year of increased transactions across the virtual reality industry
2016 was a year of increased M&A deal volume across the virtual reality and augmented reality industry, where transactions average $14.4M per disclosed deal, according to Greenlight Insights’ VR/AR Funding: 2016 in Review. A select group of categories proved particularly appealing to headset manufacturers. For example, acquirers such as Facebook, Google, and Razer acquired companies such as Pebble Interfaces, Eyefluence, and THX - all companies that will likely be integrated into future generations of headset that enhance the features and usefulness for end consumers.
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