Yes exactly. The timer starts counting when the cue ball stops moving. It can’t tell if any object balls are still moving but in most instances the cue ball stops last. Players understand that limitation.
DigiBall Passaround Reviews
- Thread starter slide13
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SlateMan
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I hope you have revolutionized professional pool!
I think Hu was talking about using the PVC like a cue ball and actually shooting the PVC pieces with his cue. Kind of like that game played with what looks like air hockey discs Pinoy children start out with before graduating to a pool table.
Did the charge in the cue ball last quite awhile when you got it from me or did you charge it immediately??DigiBall is a quite interesting product. I'll keep the description brief as I'm guessing most know about what it is and what it does. It's an electronic cueball that reports where you hit the cueball, as well as the speed and spin generated.
The components are all quality. The ball itself is Aramith resin and it feels absolutely balanced. I messed around with soft rolling it and watching for anything odd and I saw nothing that would lead me to believe it was off. It feels like a quality cueball and it reacts like one. It is one... a real quality cueball. The Charging Cradle feels solidly made and finished well. The included cables are of sufficient length. It seems silly to include this but nowadays if you buy a toaster the cord might not even reach the outlet. Pool tables can often be in odd locations where outlets are scarce. It's a small but usefull aspect.
The aluminum phone stand has a quality finish. It holds your phone well and is balanced. You don't have to worry about the device scratching anything, no rough edges and it has rubber feet.
The case that holds the ball should provide plenty of protection. All in all it seems like a well made and well thought out kit. The one minor nitpick is that if you wanted to take this with you you might need to get a small bag to carry cords in. Not a big deal and if the box that the kit was shipped in comes with the final product it is/would be sufficient to transport the cords. That and the fact the ball holds a charge for 16 hours you probably don't need to take the cords along to wherever you are playing anyway.
The phone app worked well "out of the box" and I didn't have to mess with anything on that end. The DigiCast pretty much just worked too. The DigiCast kit seems well built and is as easy to hook up as plugging an HDMI cable into your TV and plugging it's power cord in. My only issue was that I couldn't really find documentation online about it so for the course of the trial period it displayed my cueball speed in km/h. Not a big deal and I'd imagine if I had reached out this could be solved easily. I'm not entirely up to speed on devices such as this, but it seemed like it might be something similar to a raspberry pi. I don't know how the final approach to this will look, but something like a website or app for a computer where you could customize it would be nice. I'm guessing there may be something like this where you can update the firmware and settings. Again, I didn't reach out about it because I figured I could live with km/h for the trial period and my phone showed mph anyway.
The DigiCast is really cool though. We enjoyed watching it while in the spectator chairs waiting for next game. While playing it was easy to look up and see what went right or wrong after a shot. It made it really easy to confirm our suspicions, things like I decelerated/hit it too soft/threw the ball offline because of too much spin, etc. It's a cool thing to display and I could see it being a spectator favorite when watching the finals in a tournament or something similar. Kind of like a TV table where you can see how the ball was struck. You could even have a monitor on top of the light for spectators. You could do a really cool setup with this if you owned a room.
If you've played for a decent lenght of time you probably realize what you did wrong upon a miss. Seeing it on the screen and confirming what actually happened is usefull. It could be a distraction in a game situation if you get too deep into evaluation mode, but it's great for training and for the spectators. Subtle differences are easy to see, and often it's the subtle things that can go under the radar. Even the act of simply confirming your suspicion is powerful in practice. It's easy to forget about when you were first learning the game. This would be a powerful tool when starting out, trying drills, discovering what spin did etc. Another tool to analyze what does what.
I didn't use the streaming overlay because I don't have a setup to stream or record matches, however I could see this being great for live streaming or playback in general. Having accurate CB data while streaming is really neat. It's great for the spectators and for people to understand how a shot works. If I did livestreaming in almost any capacity I would use this. I can't really comment/review this aspect of the DigiBall but it's definitely a strong use case. I think the audience would really appreciate this when watching streams or tuturial type content.
Over the course of the evaluation I tried several things. We played a bunch of 9B. The built in shot clock was a neat feature. I worked for a couple minutes on my 9B break and that helped a lot for putting 2 and 2 together with results on the table. You could readily relate what the difference in 1/16" of tip position did when breaking. We even confirmed how not being stable and "jumping up" lead to a higher hit on the CB. Again a lot of this can be obvious once you've hit enough shots, but it's really useful for fine tuning and confirming your suspicions. You know for a fact where you hit it when you see it on the display. For example, on a 9B break, you can move the CB on the table across the headstring and see what that does when you hit it with the same speed and spin. I didn't focus heavily on breaking but I could see this being a very powerful tool if used in practice. You should be able to really fine tune things. Look for more break formats to become broken in the future!
I worked on the wagon wheel drill and that was very useful to see just how you hit it. Tip position registered accurately and you can really see how a good stroke contributes to the desired outcome on a drill. Not just tip location accuracy but you can see stroke quality too.
All in all we enjoyed the experience. I think DigiBall will be an excellent product for instructors, streamers, and students of the game. It's easy to set up and use. The trial period was enough to get a general idea but I think if one owned a DigiBall, you could really put the reps in, fine tune the app, track metrics over time and such. It seems to be a great training tool and I could see it working really well with student drills and/or a projection system. Let's face it, if you're an instructor and a rival instructor gets one of these before you do look out!There are different teaching and learning styles, but if you can harness the power of data driven instruction/coaching it could be a huge boon, both for the financials and your student's progress. It also has the "wow factor" that students would appreciate. I can only start to imagine how well this could work with spreadsheets and for the data crunchers. Real analytical driven results like in other sports... think golf swing coaching. This product could lead to some real inovations and stronger competition in the future.
I kind of glossed over this aspect as it works so seamlessly you kind of forget about it, but just how damn cool is it that a cueball can do this type of stuff? I'd like to think of myself as a semi smart guy but I can't even imagine what went into the R&D on the DigiBall. The math would make my head hurt! I mean think about this... a real cueball that plays like a real cue ball should, is balanced, and has all this tech baked into the design! Imagine what guys like Dr. Dave, Bob Jewett, etc would/could do with one of these! Imagine what is waiting to be discovered...
It's a pretty cool and useful product if you ask me.
Thanks for the opportunity to give it a whirl!
It would depend on whether or not the ball was placed in Shipping Mode after charging and shipping. Shipping Mode saves battery life for long term storage, but can only be woken up by placing on the charger.
dquarasr
Registered
I am extremely interested in this product pending knowing its anticipated price.
I really hate to bring it up but I will just to satisfy my curiosity and allay any skepticism I or anyone else may have: how did you quality test the ball to ensure that the displayed contact point is in fact the actual point the ball was hit by the cue tip? Similar question on all the other data points the system collects.
Sorry but I am really curious to know your measurement processes of data captured vs reality.
Thanks!!
I really hate to bring it up but I will just to satisfy my curiosity and allay any skepticism I or anyone else may have: how did you quality test the ball to ensure that the displayed contact point is in fact the actual point the ball was hit by the cue tip? Similar question on all the other data points the system collects.
Sorry but I am really curious to know your measurement processes of data captured vs reality.
Thanks!!
boogieman
It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that ping.
As cold as it was I let it come to room temperature and plugged it in before bed. I can't remember but I believe it was well below zero that day.
I know that I forgot to put the ball in shipping mode, I had the box taped up and ready to ship when I realized it. I also did not put the ball on the charger when I received it so it must not have been in shipping mode. That explains why the battery died after 4-5 hours of use.
Yeah, it was definitely during our cold stretch when I shipped it to you.
I used four methods:
-Robot, which is just a spring loaded steel shaft in a teflon block
-high speed camera
-caliper-adjusted tip extension device that I made
-pro player evaluation and feedback
SlateMan
Registered
Ah. Yeah, I missed that. Very cool idea. I was thinking he was using 2 inch PVC to put the cue through to hit the pucks on the other side. My reading skills really drop off after two to three lines of text!
Here is an example using the first method and results. I used precision shims and a caliper to align the ball and tip contact points precisely. This doesn’t include the small error introduced by speed estimation.
Attachments
My Digiball Review:
As previously mentioned, compact kit contains everything as stated. I'll second Mark's 'Like' of the long power cords. Simple to set up and very well thot out by Nataddrho.
We put this amazing piece of Tech thru the wringer over a period of 7 days!!
Digiball is going to change how players and coaches view Stroke Mechanics in the near future.
The best diagnostic tool I've ever seen for this game. The settings page allows you to completely customize your session.
We used a big screen TV for the display, (in real time) in the first hall I played in.
Major interest generator.
Easy to use Customization allows for every possible combination of equipment. Tip size and shape, ie: nickel, dime, snooker, table size, choose how you want the display to show spin, the % of tip contact off center, speed of the shot, (this can be tweaked for additional info), Position of your tip upon contact with CB, angle of approach, where the exact center of your tip struck the CB, cue length, how you want the display to read - mm, inches, feet per second, etc... choose degrees or multiple sections on the CB display - now I'm rambling. It would take me an hour as the list is damn near endless. The amount of information gleaned was incredible.
Best customization features I have ever seen and so easy to use!!
If I can understand it, anybody can.
I've been having a Steering issue that was driving me Crazy!! Couldn't figure it out, for the life of me.
In less than 5 minutes I was able to see exactly what I was doing wrong and correct it by viewing the display.
Convenient to carry your phone along with you as you play to see each shot afterwards. Never had an issue in the entire week with 'Digicast' or Bluetooth.
You can use both simultaneously!!!
We had a display on the TV going at the same time I was able to check out every shot on my phone screen as well.
Full color graphics.
I let everyone from beginners to advanced players try Digiball and every single one of them were amazed. I only wished I could have given them an approximate price and availability date. Pre order list would have been long.
We put this bad boy thru its paces. Break shots, Massè's, intentional miscues to test the limits of the display's graphics and CB position after the shot.
Digiball didn't flinch.
You can start and end your sessions at anytime. Excellent memory and downloading the sessions afterwards gives you a concise overview of your cb contact in a cluster format. Every shot you made represented by a dot on the large CB display. Analyze your shot groupings.
I could miss a shot and check the screen and immediately know why I missed. And take it from me, if you believe you can hit center ball precisely time after time, I've got news for you. Digiball showed me how inconsistent my center ball striking was in a hurry. It's difficult to place the cb representation over center ball time after time. I was frequently several degrees off center. Usually high or low. Just enuf for concern.
On those shots I missed where I scratched my head wondering wtf went wrong bcuz "I hit that good," Digiball showed me exactly what happened and why I missed. Usually from improper tip placement. I thot I'd hit low right, when in all actuality, I'd hit more towards center right, and vice versa for left. Amazing accuracy.
I also have a tendency to apply a touch of spin on certain shots that I didn't know I was doing.
One of the display's shows spin direction and speed. Best measurement device for seeing spin either wanted or unwanted.
Old Dawgs, New Tricks?? I learned plenty in that week. Much of it I'd rather not have known.
Digiball will tighten your shit up pronto!!
This little ball will become a standard tool in every coaches' toolbox and every serious players' case.
Digiball will change how we view stroke mechanics from now on.
No better tool available. Digiball is the Bomb fellas.
Earned my respect.
I want one!!
Yesterday!!!
C'mon Aramith!!
Thank you Nathan for an amazing diagnostic tool!!
This is a snapshot that I saved to my phone of some playing time with Digiball.
I had a few hours to play around with the digiball, and like the others who already posted reviews, I think this a a great product. It's a blast to use and opens up different ways to practice. The TV dongle works surprisingly well without any setup as something that can just run in the background while you practice.
I did notice an oddity in my stroke, quite often during simple runouts I was hitting the ball slightly to the left, when I was expecting dead center. Two examples with simple draw and follow:
This was a concentration error, as the ball reports dead center when I focused on that result--here's an example with slight top:
It's something for me to work on, that the lazy left offset during play could occasionally cause misses or position errors. It would be interesting to see the margin of error for a really good player.
I'll try to make time later this week to make a video with the ball overlay.
Make sure you place the black dot face down when charging the cueball--given the unique design of the product there's no way to know battery level. I will definitely buy one of these when they hit the market. It plays just like any aramith cueball.
I did notice an oddity in my stroke, quite often during simple runouts I was hitting the ball slightly to the left, when I was expecting dead center. Two examples with simple draw and follow:
This was a concentration error, as the ball reports dead center when I focused on that result--here's an example with slight top:
It's something for me to work on, that the lazy left offset during play could occasionally cause misses or position errors. It would be interesting to see the margin of error for a really good player.
I'll try to make time later this week to make a video with the ball overlay.
Make sure you place the black dot face down when charging the cueball--given the unique design of the product there's no way to know battery level. I will definitely buy one of these when they hit the market. It plays just like any aramith cueball.
Nice cluster dude!!
Seriously.I guess I'm going to have to learn how to upload pics to this site. I've got a cluster for ya!!
Look upon my works ye mighty and despair!!
I took repeated shots of center ball over and over trying to see how exact I could be. First round was somewhat frustrating as I was a few degrees off center on almost every shot.
Once I relaxed and started stroking thru the ball not thinking about results and all that, I was able to tighten up considerably. Putting zeros in the top circles was tough. For me anyway. But we eventually got there.
Try it.
I did a quick drill of ~10 simple follow shots, trying to correct my left bias. The result was a lot closer to center axis, except for the one I shanked left and missed:
The draw cluster still skews left several degrees (ignore the center ball, I think I accidentally saved it).
The draw cluster still skews left several degrees (ignore the center ball, I think I accidentally saved it).