Impulsonic, a US-based 3D audio producer spun out from University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill, has been acquired by computer game and virtual reality (VR) platform Valve, UploadVR reported today.
A value for the transaction was not disclosed.
Impulsonic has developed 3D audio technology called Phonon that works with VR systems such as the Valve-backed HTC Vive headset. Phonon is expected to give consumers sufficiently immersive audio to match VR’s visual impact.
Impulsonic is based on research by two UNC-Chapel Hill computer science postgraduates, Anish Chandak and Lakulish Antani, both of whom have now taken up computer engineering positions at Valve.
The spinout was originally granted a Carolina Express Licence from the UNC Office of Commercialisation and Economic Development and had received support from the Launch Chapel Hill incubator.
Valve now hopes to use its resources to scale up Phonon. Impulsonic’s development team will be folded into Valve’s headquarters in Washington state.