RaduTyrsina
News Team
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When you think about 3D gestures, Microsoft’s Kinect device comes to your mind. Even if it can serve to other purposes than just gaming, we can’t say that Kinect is as mobile as your iPad, for example. That’s why Occipital wants to come up with a product that would transform your iPad into a 3D scanner.
The company has started a Kickstarter project for its Structure Sensor product. It already has surpassed the $100,000 funding goal in under 24 hours and at the time of writing this article, they were nearing $500,000 with more than 40 days left. This is truly impressive.
The Structure Sensor is basically a small kit that gets attached to your iPad through a mounting bracket and has dual Infrared (IR) sensors and a traditional camera. Using them, it can do a 3D scan of your room or it can even 3D scan an object. Gamers will also get to benefit from the Structure Sensor, as augmented reality apps will become a possibility thanks to its open API.
The Structure Sensor has its own batteries, being able to run for up to 4 hours continuously with up to 1,000 hours of stand-by time. As you’ll understand from the video, the main use of 3D scanned objects is to potentially later on reproduce them using a 3D printer.
“Everything about the Structure Sensor is designed to enable new software applications and optimize the user experience†says Jew Powers, the founder of Occipital.
Currently, you can get the Structure Sensor for $359, but that’s likely to go up soon. Occipital expects the Structure Sensor to be delivered by this February.
Source: Kickstarter [video]
