Laminar Research is a small

software Software consists of computer programs that instruct the Execution (computing), execution of a computer. Software also includes design documents and specifications. The history of software is closely tied to the development of digital comput ...

company based in

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is List of municipalities in South Carolina, the second-mo ...

, and dedicated to providing software that accurately reflects the laws of

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

. Laminar's flagship product is the

flight simulator A flight simulator is a device that artificially re-creates aircraft flight and the environment in which it flies, for pilot training, design, or other purposes. It includes replicating the equations that govern how aircraft fly, how they rea ...

'' X-Plane''. The game works with

Macintosh Mac is a brand of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 1984. The name is short for Macintosh (its official name until 1999), a reference to the McIntosh (apple), McIntosh apple. The current product lineup inclu ...

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

, and

Linux Linux ( ) is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an kernel (operating system), operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically package manager, pac ...

. They also have mobile versions for iPhone, iPad, and Android. In 2004, Laminar Research released the software ''Space Combat''. Laminar also produced a

Mecha In science fiction, or mechs are giant robots or machines, typically depicted as piloted, humanoid walking vehicles. The term was first used in Japanese (language), Japanese after shortening the English loanword or , but the meaning in Japan ...

simulator titled ''Young's Modulus''. In October 2012, Laminar Research announced that they were being sued by

Uniloc Uniloc Corporation is a company founded in Australia in 1992. History The Uniloc technology is based on a patent granted to the inventor Ric Richardson who was also the founder of the Uniloc Company. The original patent application was dated ...

over an alleged patent infringement. Austin Meyer produced a documentary film called ''The Patent Scam'', about his experiences being sued by Uniloc. In May 2017, ''X-Plane 11'' was released, a major iteration in their flight simulator. ''X-Plane 11'' is available in both a consumer version, as well as a

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in t ...

certifiable professional version. In January 2022, Laminar Research announced the release of their upcoming next-generation simulation game, ''X-Plane 12''. It is slated to feature an overhaul of its weather engine, in addition to new aircraft. In September 2022, Laminar Research published the "early access" demo of X-Plane 12 and started selling it in their website. In December 2022, X-Plane 12 was released.

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External links

* Privately held companies based in South Carolina Companies based in Columbia, South Carolina Video game companies of the United States Video game development companies {{US-videogame-company-stub