In a blog post on VirtualEarth Spaces, Microsoft announced the acquisition of Caligari, the makers of the 3D modeling and animation software trueSpace. The software will be used to improve the Microsoft’s Virtual Earth mapping system.

In 2006, Caligari has launched trueSpace 7.0, which includes the first ever collaborative workspace that allows people to work together in the same shared 3D space. V-Ray renderer, new DX9 real-time view, and new scripting, physics and procedural objects were also introduced.

In the same year, Caligari unveiled truePlay, a free application to allow anyone to enter the shared 3D spaces, for collaboration with colleagues, friends and peers.

The acquisition was confirmed by Roman Ormandy, founder and CEO of Caligari, in a blog posting on the company’s website.

“I am pleased to announce that Caligari Corp has become a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation. Specifically we will be working with the Virtual Earth team which is in the process of building out an immersive 3D Web experience. If you haven't seen it yet check it out using the 3D mode at http://maps.live.com”, he wrote.

"Now we will have more resources to rely on, larger market to consider and I hope more fun doing that," he wrote.

Caligari, which was founded in 1985, has now offices in Mountain View, California, and Slovakia.

Last year in December, Microsoft acquired Multimap, a British company specialized in online mapping and one of the the top 100 most valuable technology firms in the UK.