Archive notice: This article was originally published on August 3, 2005. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
As became known during Siggraph, Dassault Systèmes has acquired the company Virtools for around 12 million euros. Virtools started in 1993 with services and consulting in the VR field. The company’s software allows interactive real-time 3D content to be created and had already been used at Dassault Systèmes for flight simulators and virtual cockpits for several years.
Dassault Systèmes has existed since 1981 and is one of the pioneers in the 3D market, with more than 80,000 customers in more than 80 countries. The company’s portfolio includes Product Lifecycle Management solutions (PLM) such as Catia, Enovia and Smarteam and mainstream tools for 3D design such as Solid Works.
Dassault Systèmes boss Bernard Charlès explained that with the purchase of Virtools he wanted to further advance the “democratisation of 3D” and develop the next generation of web-based 3D platforms intended to enable users worldwide to share their ideas with one another online in 3D.
