Acquisition of Game-Related AI Technology to Accelerate the Evolution of MASA LIFE, the Company’s AI Middleware for the Defense, Security and Serious Games Markets.
PARIS, November 21, 2011 — MASA Group (“MASA”), a leading developer of artificial intelligence (AI)-based Modeling & Simulation (M&S) software, today announced that it has acquired key intellectual property rights and hired AI product development talent from Artificial Technology GmbH, a German developer of Artificial Intelligence middleware for the games industry. The transaction will allow MASA to integrate cutting-edge, game-quality AI technology into the next generation of MASA LIFE, the company’s AI middleware designed to easily create advanced behaviors for a broad range of applications including defense, homeland security, emergency management, and serious games.
Artificial Technology is best known for its flagship product EKI One®, an innovative AI middleware product designed for the easy implementation of customized non-player character (NPC) behaviors in online and PC games. Key features include a virtual sandbox component for real-time preview, which lets users quickly visualize and test intelligent behaviors.
This acquisition will enable MASA to leverage advanced AI features developed for the games industry – such as navigation (path-finding and steering systems), perception, planning, decision and analysis – into its current product roadmap. At the same time it allows MASA to accelerate the near-term evolution of LIFE towards a truly cross-industry solution that addresses MASA’s existing customer base as well as the needs of the game development market. Through an accelerated, iterative development approach, users of LIFE will be able to easily and reliably create advanced, customized AI capabilities for their simulations, virtual environments and serious-games applications.
"The user-oriented technology and human talent we incorporate as a result of this acquisition will complement and enrich MASA LIFE, our advanced, intelligent behavior-modeling middleware. Artificial Technology’s intellectual property and team bring additional leading-edge AI and product development know-how to our solutions for the defense, homeland security and emergency management markets, while allowing us to accelerate our market reach for serious games and games applications. This move is the result of a thorough market and technology analysis over several months and is a perfect fit to our current capabilities," stated Juan-Pablo Torres, MASA's President and CEO.
MASA also plans to leverage Artificial Technology’s innovative cloud-ready AI middleware technology, which is currently used in massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs). MASA sees a strong potential for this technology to power a new generation of highly portable, and broadly accessible simulation platforms that will help solve the challenges of massive, distributed ‘large command post’ exercises in various sectors. By taking AI off the desktop and into the cloud, MASA and its LIFE product will create new opportunities for simulation developers as well as more immersive and realistic training and planning scenarios for end users.
About MASA
MASA Group (“MASA”) is a global company focused on the development of Artificial Intelligence-based Modeling & Simulation (M&S) software for the Defense, Homeland Security, Emergency Management, Serious Games and Games Development markets. A trusted developer of cutting-edge AI technology for over fifteen years, MASA has founded its success on products that combine scalability, adaptability and low cost of ownership, with a strong standards-driven approach to technology.
The MASA product range, including MASA SWORD and MASA LIFE, is uniquely designed to simplify and optimize the implementation of Artificial Intelligence capabilities for automating and driving simulated behaviors. Such capabilities allow developers and end-users in various sectors to focus their efforts on enabling a series of cost-efficient and highly realistic applications – such as command staff training, crisis management preparedness, exercise preparation, after-action review, doctrine & equipment analysis, and corporate training.
MASA products are already in use by leading organizations worldwide, including the French Army, other major armies around the world, Amper Programas, CAE, Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, Saab, SGO, Thales and Cliffhanger Productions.
For more information please visit http://www.masagroup.net/
Press Contacts
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