Animus Project
The Animus project was, broadly speaking, an initative by the Templar company Abstergo Industries to exploit the Animus for their own benefit.
Operating since before 1985 and controlled by Dr. Warren Vidic, the Animus project was one of the most important Templar initatives in their history. The project included the kidnapping of Assassins or their descendants (via the Department of Lineage Research and Acquisition), the exploration of said captives' genetic memories, and the acquisition of Pieces of Eden.[1]
In 2012, the project expanded to include the training countless Abstergo employees through use of a device similar to the Animus, called the ‘DDS’ (data dump scanner.) The DDS allows Abstergo agents to relive the memories of any hosts without having to be blood-related to them, unlike the bond shared between Desmond, Altair Ibn-La'Ahad and Ezio. Abstergo primary objective was for their agents to delve into the memories of several figures of importance that will then in turn provide the company with vital information about the Assassin Brotherhood, with the added benefit of allowing their agents to retain any skills gained via the bleeding effect.[1]