Apple has supposedly had a “smart TV” device in development for years, looking to capture the same all-encompassing device power that made the iPhone and the iPad such popular devices when they were introduced. However, the company’s foray into actual television sets – the Apple TV, a cable-box-like device for streaming programming – has been delayed time and time again, most recently with a rumor that the device, currently dubbed the “iTV,” had been pushed off the released calendar entirely for 2014.

While no one knows precisely what is taking Apple so long when it comes to the iTV, there are a number of possibilities. The first is that the company is pouring all of its efforts into other products, such as the next iteration of the iPhone, or the supposed “iWatch,” Apple’s first attempt at wearable technology. The second is that Apple is waiting for 4K TV, the latest screen resolution for home entertainment sets, to catch on with television programmers before diving into the fray. And another possibility is that Apple simply doesn’t have the groundbreaking or gamechanging ideas for the iTV that have characterized most of its other products.

According to VentureBeat, however, Apple may just be making a play for the kind of innovative edge it needs. In an article published on Sunday, VentureBeat cited an Israeli news source that claimed Apple had recently executed a high-profile acquisition of the company PrimeSense. Based in Tel Aviv, Israel, PrimeSense is most well-known globally as the company behind the motion capture technology that fueled Microsoft’s Xbox 360 Kinect device.

If the news concerning Apple’s purchase of PrimeSense is true – and worth $345 million, as VentureBeat reports – then Apple clearly has big plans for motion capture technology in some or all of its future devices. The iTV seems like a good fit for PrimeSense’s 3D sensor technology, especially since Microsoft is no longer working with PrimeSense and can’t get in the way of the partnership. Microsoft opted to use an in-house team to develop Kinect-brand devices for its new console, the Xbox One, leaving PrimeSense to improve its motion capture technology for another use. It’s hardly surprising that Apple came calling.

VentureBeat claims that Apple has also been working on a “3D gesture interface” of its own, purchasing patents for motion capture technology that could end up on Apple’s fleet of mobile devices, including tablets, smartphones, and laptops. If Apple is already working on motion capture technology for mobile devices, then it stands to reason that the company’s interest in PrimeSense is somehow related to the iTV.