Next time you head out to the links, you may want to bring a new golf ball.
Coach Labs has announced the availability of the GEN i1 smart golf ball, a Bluetooth-enabled device that tracks a number of performance metrics and sends them to a smartphone app. The ball tracks its rotation, skid and distance among other stats, using an embedded nine-axis sensor and microcontroller unit. The ball’s battery provides power for approximately 5,000 putts.
“The data the GEN i1 produces helps you understand why you’re missing putts,” Coach Labs founder Jason Koo said in a statement. “Practicing putting is boring, but these algorithms not only give us information to educate golfers, they let us integrate games with the ball and the app to make practice fun and entertaining.”
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An accompanying putting sensor detects and relays information about stroke length and stroke tempo, providing a robust package of statistics about your putts.
You only have to create an account and the GEN i1 will assess your skill profile and create a customized training program replete with games that can be played against bots or friends. Examples of games include modified versions of skeeball and bowling designed to improve your putting skills.
Users seem to have wanted the product so much that in September it was fully funded on Indiegogo with $68,591, 124 percent of the goal. The ball and putter sensor are packaged together for $99 on the crowdfunding platform.
“The GEN i1 has been designed through a very sophisticated, patent-pending technology and manufacturing process that is connecting golf performance with play,” Koo added. “It’s an all-around application providing real-time data on your smart phone that’s far ahead of anything in development or on the market today. Golfers of all levels will benefit in real ways: lower scores and faster fixes. Right in the palm of their hands.”
The ball is available for $129 through geni1.com, along with accompanying products. The app is free for iPhone and Android users.