The future is here. And all you need to take part in this "Brave New World" is an Apple iPad. What could possibly be so revolutionary as to make an Apple iPad actually useful for work? After all, all I use mine for is to play Flappy Bird. Well, "scanning and computer vision company Occipital" has just launched their crazy innovation, Structure Sensor, for the cool price of $349.00.

The best part about the sensor is that it literally is super easy to use. Snap the camera bracket onto an iPad 4th Generation, iPad Air or iPad Mini with Retina Display. It only works with those models at this point in time. And once you have the camera bracket on, you can start capturing high-quality 3D scans of your surroundings by (relatively slowly) panning and tilting the iPad. You don't even need to download an app from the iOS App Store (however you can use this tech to create your own Augmented Reality app!).

Now imagine you've just scanned your entire Air Jordan shoe collection. Each side of the sneaker would automatically be stitched together and form a panoramic, three-dimensional model. Now, when I mention 3D I'm not talking about Avatar-style imagery where something pops-out of the screen. Rather, think of the 'sneakers' as video game models that you can twist, turn and examine.

That being said, artists will be please to hear that all the data you capture is able to be edited and colored later. You can then paint a marble sculpture you captured and bring new life to the existing piece. Your creations are also able to be exported to a 3D printer like the MakerBot.

Another killer feature that the Structure Sensor offers up to users is the ability to measure the dimensions (and thus square footage) of rooms. That's right, there are no laser guides or flimsy measuring tape accessories needed. Just click, scan and capture. It literally is as easy as 1, 2, and 3.

All this innovation was made possible by generous 3,500+ Kickstarter backers. Checkout the campaign here just to see how far Occipital has come in such a short amount of time.

Check out this bad boy in action below thanks to TechCrunch:

Are you interested in Occipital's camera technology in the future? Let us know if you are in the comments section below. And feel free to share any of your own creations with the Structure Sensor as well.