Vancouver’s Ziva Dynamics has been acquired by San Francisco’s Unity Technologies, the world’s leading platform for creating and operating interactive, real-time 3D (RT3D) content, for an undisclosed sum.
Ziva Dynamics is a virtual character software company that is changing the character creation process by bringing physics-embedded soft tissue simulation to the forefront of the media and entertainment industry.
With Ziva, artists are rapidly producing CG characters with dynamic muscles, fat and skin that automatically flex, wrinkle and jiggle just as they would in real life.
Founded in 2015, Ziva’s technology is used by leading film, entertainment, retail and consumer brand companies around the world.
“We, as humans, are uniquely attuned to react to human movement. We have an entire section of our brains dedicated to rapidly processing faces and expressions. Creating digital humans that meet the quality and natural dynamics needed to truly satisfy our minds can be a complicated and painful effort, requiring both expert knowledge and extreme perseverance,” commented Marc Whitten, SVP & GM, Create @ Unity, regarding the acquisition.
“Ziva Dynamics is solving that problem. The Ziva team has deep expertise and understanding of complex anatomical simulation and real-time artistry tools. Their incredible technology is paving the way for lifelike real-time characters and scalable, accessible workflows.”
The acquisition is Unity’s second from B.C. the last two years. They acquired Port Coquitlam’s Finger Food Advanced Technology Group in May 2020.
Ziva raised a $7 million seed round led by Grishin Robotics, Toyota AI Ventures and Millennium Technology Value Partners’ New Horizons Fund in 2020.
The brainchild of Academy Award winner James Jacobs and USC Associate Professor of Computer Science Jernej Barbic, Ziva’s character authoring tool has already been used by over 100 studios on titles such as Game of Thrones, The Meg and Captain Marvel.
By acquiring Ziva, Unity now has access to even more of the best talent in the industry. Their executive team is lined with Scientific and Technical Academy Award-winners and experts in VFX, physics, deformation, machine learning, and more.
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