iPutt is a pneumatically actuated putting green. It enhances the putting experience by adding several modes of play shown below.
Group Members: Abdulla Alhajri, Lia Bogoev, Amy Loomis, Nono Martinez Alonso, Harpreet Sareen
Random mode: This basic mode creates a course configuration for the player using a near-random algorithm. The user can hone his or her skills on an ever-changing course.
Training mode: Using computer vision, iPutt projects the optimal path for the ball to follow to make the shot and provides the user with a target to putt toward that places the user’s ball on that optimal path. Even over changing terrain, computer vision and calculation will work to improve the player’s game.
Dynamic mode: In this challenging mode, players try to score a hole-in-one on a dynamically changing course, which changes even after the player has hit the ball.
Multiplayer mode: In multiplayer mode, iPutt takes game play to the next level. Now, friends don’t have to be on the same golf course to play together. One player chooses a course, and the other player’s iPutt will match the other’s course configuration. Using computer vision and projection, iPutt shows your opponent’s ball as it moves along the green.
Potential developments:
- incorporate texture changes to mimic varying terrain
- alter the natural physics on the course by magnetic or other interaction with the ball