DigiBall Passaround Reviews

I'll tell you boys what though, I think if I were to get a new table in a new house, I'd get a barbox. Frankly, it feels good to "pretend" you can shoot well on a little table. I'd rather feel good than bang balls into a 9' table rail.
IMO:)
 
iusedtoberich said:
Me vs Derek live now. We are using the DigiBall. I have my camera pointed at it, and it's on a 5 second delay. So it will show the english before the shot.

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Great stuff! I am still learning how to interpret the crash log you sent so that I can get the actual overlay software working for Mac and you won’t have to cameraize your phone. You should keep the DigiBall until we fix this bug.

I muted the video because I think the background noise takes away from the viewership of the extra information presented by the graphic. This was something interesting that I didn’t expect. However matches usually don’t have background noise and have just a commentary with occasional chatter from players.

What do you think?
 
@iusedtoberich
All of these small software tweaks and bugs are expected for Beta as they are ironed out before release.

Hardware is king, and can’t be changed with updates once in the field. Do you have any comments or concerns about the actual hardware of the product?

Thanks
 
I played bad.

I didn’t have the digiball charged before coming to the pool hall. So it died a couple times and we switched to the regular cb while it charged.

It’s charging now. I might get another set later tonight.
 
Quick feedback on the ball material. Idk as fact, but it feels like the Aramith super pro resin. It’s not as clean as the modern balls. It does play perfectly though.

If true, I sure wish it was the aramith Duramith resin. Super pro resin is currently the worst resin of the premium balls, imo. 30 years ago it was good. But not with the new competitor balls the last few years.
 
Another positive feedback: it seems to do a very good job ignoring secondary caroms, pocket scratches, etc, when displaying the shot on the app.
 
Everyone likes it at the pool hall. They’ve been messing around with it.

One guy had a neat idea when he saw it on the charger: make it like an automatic wrist watch to charge itself based on motion. Probably not practical with hard hits, etc, but an interesting idea.
 
iusedtoberich said:
Quick feedback on the ball material. Idk as fact, but it feels like the Aramith super pro resin. It’s not as clean as the modern balls. It does play perfectly though.

If true, I sure wish it was the aramith Duramith resin. Super pro resin is currently the worst resin of the premium balls, imo. 30 years ago it was good. But not with the new competitor balls the last few years.
Click to expand...
I think it is Duramith. It could just need cleaning.

This single ball not only went through Aramith’s testing and my personal testing, but also traveled around the country to 10 locations, and still works exactly the same. This was part of the final test and it looks like the ball holds up perfectly with multiple recharges and whatever abuse was decided upon it. Very good.
 
iusedtoberich said:
Everyone likes it at the pool hall. They’ve been messing around with it.

One guy had a neat idea when he saw it on the charger: make it like an automatic wrist watch to charge itself based on motion. Probably not practical with hard hits, etc, but an interesting idea.
Click to expand...
Piezoelectric sensors not only need to be large but only generate micro amps of current. The charger charges at 10mA, and that isn’t even that much power. So not applicable because of the orders of magnitude difference. Plus that is only slightly more than the internal leakage current of the battery.

Another idea is using stray WiFi signals to charge it, or light (solar cell or photodiode) but same problem as above.
 
iusedtoberich said:
Ran into trouble with the main iOS DigiBall app. I took it to the pool hall the other night and had a buddy download the app on his iPhone. His phone couldn't find the ball. It only worked on my iPhone, so I just had him borrow my phone while I was playing a set with a regular CB.

Just now at home, I downloaded the app to my iPad, and it too could not find the digiBall. I turned off bluetooth on my iPhone, but the iPad still couldn't find it.

I expect this to be passed around at the pool hall, and it should probably be easy to switch which phone/ipad it links to.
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@iusedtoberich
I suspect that this problem may have to do with the app not always restarting BLE scanning when it regains focus. Please try opening and closing different tabs and restarting the app on devices where you are seeing trouble. Go to the devices tab a wait 5 seconds. and let me know what happens. If that solves the problem then I’ll know where to look to fix it.
 
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Couple more feedback, may be hardware or software related, unsure:

Wallwart: please change to a USBc if there is not a technical reason you can't. You can even skip the cost of the charger and not include it. Every phone now has a 5V USBc charger. It will be much more convenient for the player. Same charger they bring to the pool hall for their phone will charge the ball.

The app needs a battery level indicator of the ball.

The app needs a way to put the ball to storage mode. I was testing the ball on my drive home last night, and the ball was still on from the motion of the car. I think that's why the battery was low when I played my match. I had a 1hr drive to and from the pool hall.

I saw you had a way to do that using the charger itself. But I can see scenarios where the player will leave the charger home.
 
nataddrho said:
@iusedtoberich
I suspect that this problem may have to do with the app not always restarting BLE scanning when it regains focus. Please try opening and closing different tabs and restarting the app on devices where you are seeing trouble. Go to the devices tab a wait 5 seconds. and let me know what happens. If that solves the problem then I’ll know where to look to fix it.
Click to expand...
I just tried my iPad again. Now it worked. The difference was a screen popped up as soon as I started the app asking about bluetooth permission. That never popped up before though. So I guess that was it?

IDK if it had popped up on my friend's phone or not. I'll try it again next pool hall trip with someone else's phone.
 
nataddrho said:
Great stuff! I am still learning how to interpret the crash log you sent so that I can get the actual overlay software working for Mac and you won’t have to cameraize your phone. You should keep the DigiBall until we fix this bug.

I muted the video because I think the background noise takes away from the viewership of the extra information presented by the graphic. This was something interesting that I didn’t expect. However matches usually don’t have background noise and have just a commentary with occasional chatter from players.

What do you think?
Click to expand...
I loved the background sound. I'm super happy with the $20 mic I bought. It's exactly what I was going for in the sound. It also picked up random stuff like "you lucky dog" type comments. I completely understand your viewpoint though, and that is why mute buttons exist:)

It seems I didn't get flagged by youtube. I can't recall if anyone played the jukebox during our set, or if the mic didn't pick it up, or if youtube didn't care.
 
iusedtoberich said:
I just tried my iPad again. Now it worked. The difference was a screen popped up as soon as I started the app asking about bluetooth permission. That never popped up before though. So I guess that was it?

IDK if it had popped up on my friend's phone or not. I'll try it again next pool hall trip with someone else's phone.
Click to expand...
Yes it is important to enable permissions.
 
iusedtoberich said:
Couple more feedback, may be hardware or software related, unsure:

Wallwart: please change to a USBc if there is not a technical reason you can't. You can even skip the cost of the charger and not include it. Every phone now has a 5V USBc charger. It will be much more convenient for the player. Same charger they bring to the pool hall for their phone will charge the ball.
Click to expand...
Maybe in the future. I need 9V, not 5V, and a boost converter adds cost and complicates emissions compliance. I originally had a design with USB C and moved to an AC adapter.
iusedtoberich said:
The app needs a battery level indicator of the ball.
Click to expand...
Also possible but adds a handful of parts, plus raw battery voltage of a LIPO isn’t necessarily representative of the battery level. You need a “fuel gauge” chip which is adds cost and takes up space.
iusedtoberich said:
The app needs a way to put the ball to storage mode. I was testing the ball on my drive home last night, and the ball was still on from the motion of the car. I think that's why the battery was low when I played my match. I had a 1hr drive to and from the pool hall.

I saw you had a way to do that using the charger itself. But I can see scenarios where the player will leave the charger home.
Click to expand...
This can indeed be done with the charger, but only the charger. Otherwise you could put the ball into hibernate mode and not be able to wake it until you got to a charger. Ship Mode disconnects the internal battery for storage or transportation/ shipping until it is charged again.

The ball won’t wake normally unless you rotate it 90 degrees so it will go to sleep while you are driving.
 
iusedtoberich said:
Quick feedback on the ball material. Idk as fact, but it feels like the Aramith super pro resin. It’s not as clean as the modern balls. It does play perfectly though.

If true, I sure wish it was the aramith Duramith resin. Super pro resin is currently the worst resin of the premium balls, imo. 30 years ago it was good. But not with the new competitor balls the last few years.
Click to expand...
Well fellas... It's late/early so I'm going to talk a bit of stream of consciousness. If you're a lazy fella, there is a TLDR at the end.

Old fellas: TLDR; = Too Lazy Didn't Read. Skip to the end and read TLDY; if you're just scanning.

A preface: It plays perfectly but...

If I'm buying a CB to show my acolytes (aka a "paid instructor" as the the demographic? ), I don't want to have to spit on my finger to remove chalk after a miscue. Cleanliness is next to godliness or whatever they say. I might be more OCD/tuned in than most so take it with a grain of salt if you want to.

Removing miscue chalk and well... that... and the amount of masters that sticks to it (statc?). Honestly you're analysis is dead on. I've not been too talkative on AZ lately... I just played pool with my nephew a lot since he moved in... & a buddy that left at 11:45... We started at 3PM. It's 5:40AM now. Bird are chirping outside... Sunday is a day of rest right? But your post got to me. At least got me talkative. ;)

Thread theme song, I'm ready to shoot a liver out.

But I'm drinking a few gulps of water and sleeping after this post.

@nataddrho I'm a cheap pool player, no instructor in the least, but I would pay an extra $25-50 for Duramith™ technology. Maybe more depending on the demographic. The rest of the ball is great but... I'd like it to last a decade for the price point. I was 2nd in line (fact check please I do not recall) and it already had matte spots on it. I'll be more honest (than I want to be) as I was LUCKY, to have won a chance to get the passaround. A win is a win.😀 I got the CB, played tentative... (scared of it), but after every break there was a V10 spot on it. V10 is clean but chalk STICKS to the review ball. My break is tits, but it's unorthodox. Works on tight racks or league night BS. It's a bit hard but I ain't clicking my heels on the break. I had to touch the chalk mark and scrape it with my fingernail after every break. I didn't have to wet it with spit... you know what I mean. Long story short, chalk sticks and it's a distraction. Call it OCD but I don't want to look at that and think about skids. I will beat anyone in any condition, dirty or clean, but it takes a bit for me to open the olde wallet for toys/tools.

I realize the allure and prestige/marketing of Aramith™ but realize, I'm used to the "whatever™" that a set of Dynaspheres Bronze is and it's much cleaner. If you're still in the negotiation phase, realize you are selling a tool. An instructor may want to use it for many years. Or maybe offer it at different price points in different resins at worst case scenario. Go big or go home IMO.

The Digiball™ is a great product, but being second in line, I left the CB with a lot more matte and scratchy shit than I would want to. I realized how bad it looked after about 3-4 days and packed it up in fear of it looking too bad for the rest of the queue. I was legit worried the next in line woudl think It looked like shit. I took a half an hour getting the embedded chalk out of it. It wasn't perfect when I got it... but it definitely wasn't as good as it was 4 days after it arrived.

Get a better resin. I plays right but damn, I have perimeter lights and it's noticeable when it's less than perfection.

TLDR; Feel free to roast me but I said what I said. 🤷‍♂️

Good night! 😴
 
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