Delivery Status Update

Since March nearly a third of our team has been working onsite in China to mitigate delays and improve processes. As a result, we don't expect any new delays, which means that the delivery date estimates from the last backer update remain the same.

Since the last backer update, we have also delivered all of the sensors in the Beta Final Batch (serial numbers 101-200), as well as the first of two sensors for each of the Dev Team Bundle backers.

Here’s an updated version of the estimated delivery status chart for your reference:

We thought you may also be interested in seeing a few images from behind the scenes at the factory in China – after all, we’ve been spending quite a bit of time over there, so we took the opportunity to start capturing a few images of the production line to share with you!

We hope you enjoyed this mini travelogue and inside view into what goes into making each Structure Sensor great! Our team members who have temporarily moved to China are working hard every day to make the Structure Sensor as good as it can possibly be. Thanks Kai, Forrest, Jason and Candemir for continuing to put in such an outstanding effort!

The Structure App Has Hit The App Store! 

The Structure app is the first official companion app for the Structure Sensor. It provides a number of handy tools and visualizations to help you check the status of your Structure Sensor, as well as to show you how it works at a fundamental level.

  The initial release of the Structure app features: 

• Instant distance measurements
• Real-time visualization of the Structure Sensor’s depth stream overlaid over the iPad’s color camera stream
• Real-time visualization of the infrared camera stream from the Structure Sensor (also known as night vision!)
• The ability to update your Structure Sensor's firmware.
• The ability to check your Structure Sensor's battery level.
• Uplink, which lets you stream depth data from the Structure Sensor in real-time wirelessly to your computer via WiFi. More on this in a future update!

While you can download Structure app from the App Store now, please remember that you won’t be able to fully use it until you have your Structure Sensor connected to a compatible iPad. 

Structure Sensor In The News

The Structure Sensor continues to capture the attention of the world’s press. This month, we’ve got three great stories to share from three different continents.

First, T3 Magazine in the UK chose the Structure Sensor as one of its 100 selections for this year’s hot 100 list. 

Up next, Korea’s SBS featured the Structure Sensor as part of a broadcast and interactive report on cutting-edge technologies of today that will impact our lives tomorrow. To find coverage of the Structure Sensor, click here, then click the 4th box from the left, and finally click the red button that appears to watch the segment (note: the segment is in Korean). 

Finally, back here in the United States, the Structure Sensor got the attention of none other than DIY guru Bob Vila, who chose it as one of 9 add-ons to transform your mobile device.

We’re Sponsoring Next Month’s QuickLeft Hackfest in Boulder, CO

We’re happy to announce that we’ll be the primary sponsor for next month’s QuickLeft HackFest that kicks off Boulder Startup Week. The theme of next month’s HackFest is “Battle of the Games”.

If you’ve got a great game idea and you’d like to join the competition, please sign up here: http://quickleft.com/blog/battle-of-the-games-there-will-be-hackfest

— The Occipital Team

We’ve got some exciting news – our first batch of beta Structure Sensors have left the factory in China, they've cleared customs, and will be on their way to backers once they leave our distribution center!

If you backed our Kickstarter campaign at the “STRUCTURE SENSOR BETA EDITION” level, your very own Structure Sensor with serial number between 1-100 is in one of the boxes above and will soon be on its way to you, along with the iPad bracket you selected (a quick note: your USB Hacker Cable has been delayed slightly and will be shipped separately at no extra cost. We'll update you on the ETA for the Hacker Cable.).

For backers at the “STRUCTURE SENSOR BETA FINAL BATCH” and “DEV TEAM BUNDLE” level, we are in the middle of producing your sensors, but as of this week, production has halted temporarily for Chinese New Year. As a result, you will need to wait just a bit longer for production to resume in China after the annual two-week break for this holiday. We apologize for the delay, but rest assured that your sensors will also be shipping soon.

T-Shirts are shipping too!

As if starting to ship beta sensors wasn’t enough, we’ve got some more exciting news – T-Shirts have also started shipping to backers.

In fact, a few of you have already received your Structure Sensor T-shirts and have tweeted out some great pictures of yourselves wearing them. Here’s our backer Herve Nivon modeling his:

Thanks, Herve! And, to other backers who also have already received their T-Shirts, please keep tweeting these great pictures to us! You can find us as @structure on Twitter.

— The Occipital Team

Structure Sensor at CES

Last week, members of the Occipital team headed to the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas to meet with partners, talk to the press, and check out the latest innovations from electronics companies from around the world. 

Better yet, we also got to meet a dozen backers in person at the Kickstarter meetup we held on the second night of the show. It was great to give some of you the opportunity to spend time hands on with the Structure Sensor, as well as to hear about a few of the cool new apps you’re planning to build with the Structure SDK. Check out the video below from our meetup:

The Structure Sensor got some extra attention from the press as well during the show – take a look at The Verge’s video review, and GeekBeat TV’s interview with Jeff and Adam here:

What is the 3D Systems iSense?

Perhaps the biggest Structure Sensor news at CES was 3D Systems’ announcement of the iSense. The iSense is a 3D Systems-branded version of the Structure Sensor that 3D systems will sell to accompany their diverse line of 3D printers. 3D Systems will be developing their own apps for the iSense that will be optimized for 3D printing. 3D Systems has stated that they plan to sell the iSense for $499, and sales will begin in Summer 2014. That means that no iSense units will be shipping before Kickstarter units – you’ll absolutely get yours first.

We think the iSense is a great thing for the Structure Sensor, the Structure SDK and Structure Sensor Kickstarter backers. iSense will be compatible with all apps built for the Structure Sensor, and vice versa. That means that developers that choose to build apps with the Structure SDK will benefit from an added audience of thousands of 3D printing enthusiasts who they might otherwise not be able to easily reach. 

For more information on the 3D Systems iSense, you can check out the official press release here:

3D Systems iSense Press Release

"Structure Sonar"

Our computer vision team has been hard at work preparing the Structure SDK for launch. In fact, we couldn’t wait for the first app to be built on the Structure SDK, so our amazing electrical engineer Candemir Orsan created one!

The result is Structure Sonar, an app that lets people with vision impediments use the Structure Sensor’s depth feed to help them navigate around objects and environments. Check out Candemir testing his new Structure app here:

Have you entered your shipping address yet?

In the backer update sent last month, we noted that we still had not received all backers’ responses in our pledge confirmation system. Unfortunately, we’re still missing information from some backers who have not yet gone through the process.

If you have not yet gone to our pledge confirmation website, it’s extremely important to do so ASAP. This is how we get your shipping address, and how you select options for your pledge, such as color and bracket type.

If you still have not confirmed your pledge, please do so now. If you need your personalized link to the pledge confirmation website, email us at kickstarter@occipital.com to receive it.

Production Status Update

We're working on providing another detailed production status update to keep you apprised of when to expect your Structure Sensor and other rewards. There are just a few additional updates we need from our manufacturing and shipping partners before we have all the information we need to provide you with a detailed and accurate update. We plan to send another backer update next week with this information.

Thank you again for backing the Structure Sensor, and feel free to email us any time with your questions!

— The Occipital Team