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