They did...., they just mentioned it wasn’t quite ready. I would think well before the official launch of the product.
OB Cues DigiCue BLUE - Official Passaround Reviews
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They did...., they just mentioned it wasn’t quite ready. I would think well before the official launch of the product.
That is correct. We will have an Android app ready before launch.
The ideal would allow an interface to a laptop where the arrangement of info would be better displayed.
Just imagine if it also interfaced with Microsoft, the market app. for laptops should be really enormous.
Matt B.
Just imagine if it also interfaced with Microsoft, the market app. for laptops should be really enormous.
Matt B.
It would be great if they added an option to keep the iPad from going to sleep. This can be accomplished by the user in Settingsisplay & Brightness:Auto-Lock area, but would be nice for the app to have the app do this for you (my recipe app does this so I know it's possible).
Thank you for your feedback! I made notes of your comments about the interface.
I just wanted to point out that the app is designed to capture data while both in normal mode and background (sleep mode, after the screen goes dark). In sleep mode the app will drain the battery of an ipod touch at a rate of about 5% per hour, and similar for other devices. The illumination of the screen drains the battery much faster. However, I can see a benefit being able to keep the screen on all the time, especially if the mobile device is plugged in and charging (where you don't care about battery life as much).
My review:
This my first time trying a Digicue and it was definitely an interesting experience. I have had some professional lessons from Scott Lee in the past, have a table at home to practice on and am always interested in anything that can help me stay concentrated on my fundamentals.
I won't dwell on the form factor or basics as these are well covered already. The primary thing the Blue version brings is the ability to visualize the data from the sensor and track them over time. Overall I like the concept. This will be especially valuable if you are looking to improve your game by practicing exercises where you work on eliminating bad behaviors from your stoke. You can then get good statistical data to see where your common stoke errors occur and work on fixing them.
If you prefer to practice by playing racks with yourself the Digicue Blue still helps but it can be a little distracting. It cannot track if you actually made each ball so it is disconcerting to make the shot, get perfect shape and still have it complain you got something wrong! However there is no arguing that many of us have inconsistencies in our stokes, so even though we make balls over time those inconsistencies will bring our game down.
You get feedback either from a vibration in the unit, a sound from the app or just by looking at the app screen. I found myself constantly dragging my phone around the table so I could check the score for all my shots. This naturally slows things down, but if you prefer you can ignore all this and just check the scores at the end using the historical tracking data. Occasionally it missed a shot and did not record it, although I noticed the app was updated during the week when I was testing it so this might be a software bug that's been worked out.
We were asked not to comment on the UI of the app itself, so I've sent my feedback on that directly to Shane at OB.
Overall I think this new version shows a lot of promise, although there are some more tweaks and features I'd like to see in the app and how the data is represented. I am hoping over time a whole infrastructure can be developed to tie in the sensor data to tracking a player's progress in basic tests, layout exercises and actual games. Ideally a permanent app display on a tablet, or better still something that can be displayed on a big flat screen would be great, especially in a classroom setting.
This my first time trying a Digicue and it was definitely an interesting experience. I have had some professional lessons from Scott Lee in the past, have a table at home to practice on and am always interested in anything that can help me stay concentrated on my fundamentals.
I won't dwell on the form factor or basics as these are well covered already. The primary thing the Blue version brings is the ability to visualize the data from the sensor and track them over time. Overall I like the concept. This will be especially valuable if you are looking to improve your game by practicing exercises where you work on eliminating bad behaviors from your stoke. You can then get good statistical data to see where your common stoke errors occur and work on fixing them.
If you prefer to practice by playing racks with yourself the Digicue Blue still helps but it can be a little distracting. It cannot track if you actually made each ball so it is disconcerting to make the shot, get perfect shape and still have it complain you got something wrong! However there is no arguing that many of us have inconsistencies in our stokes, so even though we make balls over time those inconsistencies will bring our game down.
You get feedback either from a vibration in the unit, a sound from the app or just by looking at the app screen. I found myself constantly dragging my phone around the table so I could check the score for all my shots. This naturally slows things down, but if you prefer you can ignore all this and just check the scores at the end using the historical tracking data. Occasionally it missed a shot and did not record it, although I noticed the app was updated during the week when I was testing it so this might be a software bug that's been worked out.
We were asked not to comment on the UI of the app itself, so I've sent my feedback on that directly to Shane at OB.
Overall I think this new version shows a lot of promise, although there are some more tweaks and features I'd like to see in the app and how the data is represented. I am hoping over time a whole infrastructure can be developed to tie in the sensor data to tracking a player's progress in basic tests, layout exercises and actual games. Ideally a permanent app display on a tablet, or better still something that can be displayed on a big flat screen would be great, especially in a classroom setting.
My Digicue Blue Experience - I received the Digicue on the first day of a 3 day pool week. Tuesday night is my practice night with a friend. So I got to put it through 3 hours of play. Most Apps now Pair BT devices through their app. So I got it set up and started on Beginner. Not sure why I chose that, but just seemed a good place to start. It is fairly accurate. It records almost everything for review. In my case.. I have a small tripod that I set my phone in. So I placed the phone on that with the App Open. That was when I did miss. I could look at the faults. It actually can record mutiple faults for one shot too. Which is great. (I will exaplin more in awhile). The history and graphs look great. I also turned on Notifications for it so it would display on my phone screen even if the App was closed. I have to say also that the battery life was great. I am running iOS 11.1 Beta 2 and with my phone fully charged. I easily played for 3 hours. With 100 percent charge over that time I dropped to 93 percent. That's impressive. It tells me their App is pretty clean.
I have to say I was very surprised. Even with the device on the butt of your cue. You quicly get use to added weight. The more I played and the more I monitored. I learned a lot about my stroke. The following evening I played 8 ball with my APA team. Placed the Digicue on Intermidate. Practiced for a few hours and played my match. You actually get to the point were you forget it's there except when it buzzes. There was a few times the app quit logging. Maybe for about 45 minutes and then it started back, Not sure if that's because it goes to sleep or what. But I never touched the button on the Digicue or the App. It's like it woke back up.
The 3rd night was APA 9 ball, and set up for a more advance player. Sadly there was a Update to the App and I lost everything I had recorded from the other night. I'm sure that won't happen in the final App, only testing phases. I love playing 9 ball. So I got some extra practice time in. I have been having a awful time with extrene long draw shots lately. So I was determined to find a moment and see if the Digicue could help me fix this. Lately when I go to stroke a long draw. On the Diamond tables were we place. It seems if you touch the inside edge a corner pocker it rattles and rarely falls. So I did 3 and looked at buzzing results from the Digicue. Each time was consistently the same bad stroke. (So at least I am consistent in my badness) Right? I then set up the shots 3 more times and was determined to do a little different. 3 more shots. One went and 2 rattled. I looked at the Faults on the Digicue and only registered 2 bad things for each stroke. Next go I had the digicue track me and I also had a friend film me. I was doing what the device said I was. I just didn't understand how to address it until I watched when my friend recorded me shooting on his phone. I was trying to stroke it way way too hard..., which was causing me to pull the cue ever so slightly closer to my body. I was taking nice easy practiced strokes and then jamming the cue up against my side as I tried to draw a long distance.
I have to say, I will be purchasing one. I liked it and I think it can improve someone's stroke if you are willing to analyze the results. The data it provides and some other assitance can make you a better player. We can't shot screen captures of the App. It may not be the most polished iOS app I have used. But I like it. I would like to see them add some better terminology for strokes. I would certainly give this a 4.5 on 1 to 5 scale.
*** One last thought *** I have a Apple watch and I know many people have smart watches now. I would prefer to have a option to send the results to my watch so I instantly know what I did wrong than have to work over and review a App were I might have made 10 shots in a row. In my case I would turn off the Digicue vibration. Have it bump my wrist so I can glance at it rather than have to walk away from the table or someone I am practicing with. Food for thought the Developer. Allow notifications to go to Smart Watches for instant review.
I have to say I was very surprised. Even with the device on the butt of your cue. You quicly get use to added weight. The more I played and the more I monitored. I learned a lot about my stroke. The following evening I played 8 ball with my APA team. Placed the Digicue on Intermidate. Practiced for a few hours and played my match. You actually get to the point were you forget it's there except when it buzzes. There was a few times the app quit logging. Maybe for about 45 minutes and then it started back, Not sure if that's because it goes to sleep or what. But I never touched the button on the Digicue or the App. It's like it woke back up.
The 3rd night was APA 9 ball, and set up for a more advance player. Sadly there was a Update to the App and I lost everything I had recorded from the other night. I'm sure that won't happen in the final App, only testing phases. I love playing 9 ball. So I got some extra practice time in. I have been having a awful time with extrene long draw shots lately. So I was determined to find a moment and see if the Digicue could help me fix this. Lately when I go to stroke a long draw. On the Diamond tables were we place. It seems if you touch the inside edge a corner pocker it rattles and rarely falls. So I did 3 and looked at buzzing results from the Digicue. Each time was consistently the same bad stroke. (So at least I am consistent in my badness) Right? I then set up the shots 3 more times and was determined to do a little different. 3 more shots. One went and 2 rattled. I looked at the Faults on the Digicue and only registered 2 bad things for each stroke. Next go I had the digicue track me and I also had a friend film me. I was doing what the device said I was. I just didn't understand how to address it until I watched when my friend recorded me shooting on his phone. I was trying to stroke it way way too hard..., which was causing me to pull the cue ever so slightly closer to my body. I was taking nice easy practiced strokes and then jamming the cue up against my side as I tried to draw a long distance.
I have to say, I will be purchasing one. I liked it and I think it can improve someone's stroke if you are willing to analyze the results. The data it provides and some other assitance can make you a better player. We can't shot screen captures of the App. It may not be the most polished iOS app I have used. But I like it. I would like to see them add some better terminology for strokes. I would certainly give this a 4.5 on 1 to 5 scale.
*** One last thought *** I have a Apple watch and I know many people have smart watches now. I would prefer to have a option to send the results to my watch so I instantly know what I did wrong than have to work over and review a App were I might have made 10 shots in a row. In my case I would turn off the Digicue vibration. Have it bump my wrist so I can glance at it rather than have to walk away from the table or someone I am practicing with. Food for thought the Developer. Allow notifications to go to Smart Watches for instant review.
Coop's post about setting up the phone to record is interesting and gave me an idea, which may be a bit too complex to do without a lot of coding, but still an idea. What if the app could have a record function to record a video, then in a row bellow that have a time-matched result from the sensors in the DigiCue. So you will see your stoke and see how that looked like to the device. That would be amazing as a training tool, you can go to a time where the DigiCue recorded something not right in your shot, and you can see what you look like when shooting it to actually see what happened to fix. Just like a video and audio editor where you have different streams, except instead of syncing an audio track to the video, you are syncing the DigiCue.
I had the Digicue Blue for a few days.
Prior to that, I bought the original Digicue last year.
The Blue is the same form factor. It fits onto the end of your cue, and stays put. Removing it does not damage the finish. It does add noticeable weight to the cue. However, it does not affect play. I was able to adjust to the added weight in about 30 seconds It also adds an inch or so to the butt length, and it came in handy sometimes for a longer reach.
I initially had connection issues to my phone. There was a bug in the app, and the developers were able to fix it. Once that bug was fixed, I had no further connectivity problems.
The developers did not send us instruction on the app, on purpose, to see if we could figure it out. It was fairly easy to use, and intuitive. There were a few things that were a bit harder to use than they should be. For example, you can see a broad overview of your shot history, and then click on one individual shot to dig deeper and get more info for that one shot. Once inside the shot, if you want to get that same level of detail for another shot, you have to go out one menu level, then select another shot. This was cumbersome if you wanted to see 10 shots in detail, for example. I suggested to the developers that once you are in the detail of a shot, to be able to simply swipe right or left to get to the shot after/before.
Overall, I'd say the user interface is a 7 out of 10.
The main point of the device, is to measure any stroke flaws you have, and notify you both with a vibration on your cue stick, and with bar graphs on the phone. The vibration on the device indicates a flaw, but not what the flaw was. The bar graphs on the phone, show each stroke error, and how well or how poorly you did on each one.
I will say, there is a definite lag between when the shot is struck, and when the phone registers it. I'd say its about 4 to 5 seconds. Not a huge deal, but if you want to shoot, and evaluate immediately after every shot, lets say 10 shots in a row, that lag will definitely slow you down.
Besides the lag between the hardware and the phone, there are also times when the phone never registers a shot at all. I tried to fool it, by shooting 10 object balls in the pocket directly (without using a cue ball), with about 2 total seconds between each shot. The phone only picked up 5 of them. Slowing way down, with about 8 seconds in between each shot, the phone got all or most of them. I imagine this missing of the shots will get better over time. I don't know if that can be improve with software updates, or better hardware, or both. Time will tell. I found over time, it missed about 25% of the shots I took, just playing racks normally, and not trying to fool it. Even though it missed those shots, there was still plenty of shots it did pick up, and plenty of data for the shooter to analyze.
The feedback on the app is bar graphs. The better you are at a particular stroke attribute, the longer the graph. When you have the setting at beginner, you can have larger stroke flaws, before making the unit buzz. When set to advanced, your stroke has to be better. You can see where the cutoff is on the bar graphs, it shows a little line that you have to be above, in order not to vibrate.
There were 9 things it measures:
Finish (used to be called freeze)
Finesse
Straightness
Tip steer left
Tip steer right
Follow through
Jab
Backstoke pause
Shot interval
To be honest, I didn't know what finesse, follow through, and jab did. I tried a bunch of hokey strokes, and couldn't figure out exactly what made them buzz, and what made them keep quiet.
What I did discover, is that "Straightness" I could not get a good score on at all, even when everything else was perfect. I could do the drill with the cue going up and down the table and hitting the tip, and it would show a fault. I even dug out my aluminum stroke trainer that guides your wrist, and it still faulted. Many of my strokes naturally finish with my tip on the table. I had an aha moment, and tried more of a piston stroke, trying to keep the tip moving in a straight line, instead of a downward arc. That finally showed improvement on the "Straightness"
The developers informed me that "straightness" measures any deviation of your stroke from a perfectly straight "laser beam". Where as Tip Steer Left/Right is the same, but ignores any vertical deviations from that laser beam.
[As an aside, I bought the original DigiCue last year, and I could never get it to stay quiet, even on beginner mode. Now I know why. It was because of the dip in my stroke. IMO, the original one should maybe be changed to not be so sensitive on the downward dip at the end of the stroke. If you have an original one, and can't keep it quiet, try more of an elbow drop piston style stroke, and see if your results improve.]
The best part about this product, IMO, is you can turn on or turn off only the things you want to work on. After using it for a few days, I settled on turning off all of the measurements, except for Tip Steer, which I set on the most advanced setting.
Another thing I did after a few days of using it, is not even have the phone app on, and only have the device on my cue (in the custom setting I wanted, which was only for Tip Steer. I simply played my normal ghost practice, and tried to keep it quiet. I think a lot of people might end up using it like that, after they fool around with the phone app part of it for a few days. You can use the device completely standalone, and not even have your phone turned on, if you wish. It will remember the last settings you used, for what it is looking to measure.
The battery was good also. I used it for 5 or so days, and didn't have any battery dying issues.
Will this make you a better player? Maybe, maybe not. It does help you focus more, to keep it quiet. But its like any other practice aid in our game. You have to put in the work.
I'd give the overall product a B-. I think it is ready for prime time. But I also think future models will be better as the technology improves.
I would not get the original DigiCue at all, now that this is available. This is at a higher price point, but I think the ability to turn on and turn off what it measures, and show you the results, is very much worth the extra cost.
Prior to that, I bought the original Digicue last year.
The Blue is the same form factor. It fits onto the end of your cue, and stays put. Removing it does not damage the finish. It does add noticeable weight to the cue. However, it does not affect play. I was able to adjust to the added weight in about 30 seconds
It also adds an inch or so to the butt length, and it came in handy sometimes for a longer reach.I initially had connection issues to my phone. There was a bug in the app, and the developers were able to fix it. Once that bug was fixed, I had no further connectivity problems.
The developers did not send us instruction on the app, on purpose, to see if we could figure it out. It was fairly easy to use, and intuitive. There were a few things that were a bit harder to use than they should be. For example, you can see a broad overview of your shot history, and then click on one individual shot to dig deeper and get more info for that one shot. Once inside the shot, if you want to get that same level of detail for another shot, you have to go out one menu level, then select another shot. This was cumbersome if you wanted to see 10 shots in detail, for example. I suggested to the developers that once you are in the detail of a shot, to be able to simply swipe right or left to get to the shot after/before.
Overall, I'd say the user interface is a 7 out of 10.
The main point of the device, is to measure any stroke flaws you have, and notify you both with a vibration on your cue stick, and with bar graphs on the phone. The vibration on the device indicates a flaw, but not what the flaw was. The bar graphs on the phone, show each stroke error, and how well or how poorly you did on each one.
I will say, there is a definite lag between when the shot is struck, and when the phone registers it. I'd say its about 4 to 5 seconds. Not a huge deal, but if you want to shoot, and evaluate immediately after every shot, lets say 10 shots in a row, that lag will definitely slow you down.
Besides the lag between the hardware and the phone, there are also times when the phone never registers a shot at all. I tried to fool it, by shooting 10 object balls in the pocket directly (without using a cue ball), with about 2 total seconds between each shot. The phone only picked up 5 of them. Slowing way down, with about 8 seconds in between each shot, the phone got all or most of them. I imagine this missing of the shots will get better over time. I don't know if that can be improve with software updates, or better hardware, or both. Time will tell. I found over time, it missed about 25% of the shots I took, just playing racks normally, and not trying to fool it. Even though it missed those shots, there was still plenty of shots it did pick up, and plenty of data for the shooter to analyze.
The feedback on the app is bar graphs. The better you are at a particular stroke attribute, the longer the graph. When you have the setting at beginner, you can have larger stroke flaws, before making the unit buzz. When set to advanced, your stroke has to be better. You can see where the cutoff is on the bar graphs, it shows a little line that you have to be above, in order not to vibrate.
There were 9 things it measures:
Finish (used to be called freeze)
Finesse
Straightness
Tip steer left
Tip steer right
Follow through
Jab
Backstoke pause
Shot interval
To be honest, I didn't know what finesse, follow through, and jab did. I tried a bunch of hokey strokes, and couldn't figure out exactly what made them buzz, and what made them keep quiet.
What I did discover, is that "Straightness" I could not get a good score on at all, even when everything else was perfect. I could do the drill with the cue going up and down the table and hitting the tip, and it would show a fault. I even dug out my aluminum stroke trainer that guides your wrist, and it still faulted. Many of my strokes naturally finish with my tip on the table. I had an aha moment, and tried more of a piston stroke, trying to keep the tip moving in a straight line, instead of a downward arc. That finally showed improvement on the "Straightness"
The developers informed me that "straightness" measures any deviation of your stroke from a perfectly straight "laser beam". Where as Tip Steer Left/Right is the same, but ignores any vertical deviations from that laser beam.
[As an aside, I bought the original DigiCue last year, and I could never get it to stay quiet, even on beginner mode. Now I know why. It was because of the dip in my stroke. IMO, the original one should maybe be changed to not be so sensitive on the downward dip at the end of the stroke. If you have an original one, and can't keep it quiet, try more of an elbow drop piston style stroke, and see if your results improve.]
The best part about this product, IMO, is you can turn on or turn off only the things you want to work on. After using it for a few days, I settled on turning off all of the measurements, except for Tip Steer, which I set on the most advanced setting.
Another thing I did after a few days of using it, is not even have the phone app on, and only have the device on my cue (in the custom setting I wanted, which was only for Tip Steer. I simply played my normal ghost practice, and tried to keep it quiet. I think a lot of people might end up using it like that, after they fool around with the phone app part of it for a few days. You can use the device completely standalone, and not even have your phone turned on, if you wish. It will remember the last settings you used, for what it is looking to measure.
The battery was good also. I used it for 5 or so days, and didn't have any battery dying issues.
Will this make you a better player? Maybe, maybe not. It does help you focus more, to keep it quiet. But its like any other practice aid in our game. You have to put in the work.
I'd give the overall product a B-. I think it is ready for prime time. But I also think future models will be better as the technology improves.
I would not get the original DigiCue at all, now that this is available. This is at a higher price point, but I think the ability to turn on and turn off what it measures, and show you the results, is very much worth the extra cost.
The device didn't come with directions so I went to the website www.obcues.com and gathered some basic knowledge. I also wasn't sure how to judge the stats at first till I figured out the higher the number the better the stroke for each fault.
I set up some straight in shots and was able to understand the results. I found one shot in particular that had it buzzing like crazy and I was able to practice it enough times that quieted it down.
I think that an improvement might be to show the results of the previous shot on the fault screen after the next shot so you could determine if you were improving right away.
It connected right away with the digicue app and I found the app easy to use and navigate.
I think it's a great tool to have in the box for those who are committed to improvement.
Now if someone could come up with a way to make better decisions at the table I would be all in.
I set up some straight in shots and was able to understand the results. I found one shot in particular that had it buzzing like crazy and I was able to practice it enough times that quieted it down.
I think that an improvement might be to show the results of the previous shot on the fault screen after the next shot so you could determine if you were improving right away.
It connected right away with the digicue app and I found the app easy to use and navigate.
I think it's a great tool to have in the box for those who are committed to improvement.
Now if someone could come up with a way to make better decisions at the table I would be all in.
Updated shipping date?
When are they shipping? I ordered one and the reviews have me waiting impatiently
When are they shipping? I ordered one and the reviews have me waiting impatiently
When are they shipping? I ordered one and the reviews have me waiting impatiently
Shooting for Nov 17th.
When are they shipping? I ordered one and the reviews have me waiting impatiently
I want one too.
FYI, I did a Facebook live video last night that ended up running about 30 minutes. The video shows the apps working and explains exactly what the DigiCue BLUE can do and how to use it. Worth a look if anyone is curious: https://www.facebook.com/obcues/videos/1735263689818561/
FYI: You can also now download the iOS DigiCue App as it just went live in the app store: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/digicue/id1240311785?ls=1&mt=8
The link to the Android app will be posted soon when it goes live shortly.
The link to the Android app will be posted soon when it goes live shortly.
Is it possible to turn the buzzer off but still have the device record shots to your phone? Its possible the buzzing may change the way people are stroking their cues to keep the Digicue quite and not getting a real example of their stroke under "normal" conditions.
Yes, this feature is already in the app. You can have no vibration at all or you can have it vibrate when you make a mistake or you can also have it only vibrate when you don't make a mistake
Looks great, next time PLEASE shoot the video holding the phone in landscape mode
Looks great, next time PLEASE shoot the video holding the phone in landscape mode
You got it!