Capturing a photo of a room or object is great if you just want to convey a visual representation. If you want to model, measure or explore in virtual reality, you need a spatial computing solution and a new product from Occipital is bringing that technology to your mobile device.
The Structure Sensor is a clip-on 3D vision system for the iPad that quickly captures real objects in digital form. It works by emitting infrared light from LEDs to create a uniform pattern of invisible light and then captures that pattern, sending the data through the lighting connector to an app on your device. The Structure Sensor will let you scan objects to create 3D models, capture entire rooms including the measurements down to a precision of one percent of measured distance and with the app, you can then share these 3D scans with anyone. The app also has a few fun features like a virtual pet that plays fetch on your device using the real world as its playground and an augmented reality demo that bounces balls off real world object geometry.
The Structure Sensor runs off an internal battery that will last about four hours on a charge saving your iPad battery while it scans your world. It is contained in an anodized aluminum chassis making it look like it belongs on the iPad and functionally acting as a heat sink keeping the internal components cool. The Structure Sensor has a funded Kickstarter campaign and is targeting a release early next year.
Check it out: