Golf ball placement system and its operation method

Abstract

To provide a device and a method for generating a user interface for communicating a ball arrangement position on a play surface for a user playing golf.SOLUTION: A golf system includes an arithmetic device associated with a user on a play surface having at least one landmark object. The arithmetic device includes a processor 502 and a memory 506 connected to the processor. The memory may store a processor executable instruction for configuring the processor so as to, when executed: acquire topographic data related to a virtual golf hole of a virtual golf ball; determine a target destination of the virtual golf ball on a play surface on the basis of the topographic data and a predicted trajectory of the virtual golf ball; and generate a signal for communicating the target destination and a ball arrangement position on the play surface.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Claims

1. The golf system includes: A computing device associated with a user on a play surface having multiple play surface destinations, the computing device comprising a processor and memory coupled to the processor, the memory storing processor-executable instructions that configure the processor at runtime as follows: Retrieve terrain data related to the virtual golf hole for the virtual golf ball; Based on the terrain data and the expected trajectory of the virtual golf ball, the target destination of the virtual golf ball on the playing surface is determined; and A signal is generated to communicate the target destination and the ball placement position on the playing surface. Here, determining the target destination includes the following: Identify a subset of the destinations on the play surface as appropriate target destinations; and To emulate the virtual golf hole, the target destination is determined from a subset of destinations based on the terrain data portion related to the expected trajectory of the golf ball.

2. In the golf system according to claim 1, the determined target destination is based on optimizing at least one of the following: the number of golfers playing the golf ball at each destination on the playing surface, the playing surface wear pattern, or the flow of golfers entering and leaving the playing surface.

3. In the golf system according to claim 1, the terrain data includes virtual boundary data for a virtual target destination associated with the virtual golf hole.

4. In the golf system according to claim 1, generating a signal for communicating between the target destination and the ball placement position on the playing surface includes: To guide the user to the ball placement location, a directional interface element is displayed to be overlaid on image data including a landmark object adjacent to the target destination, and the directional interface element is generated based on the landmark object and anchor data related to the user's current location.

5. In the golf system according to claim 4, the directional interface element is based on a polar coordinate system that provides displacement directions in an annular direction centered on the landmark object and in a radial direction based on the landmark object.

6. In the golf system according to claim 4, overlaying the directional interface element on a substantially real-time image feed in the computing unit provides an augmented reality view of the playing surface as the user crosses it.

7. In the golf system according to claim 4, generating a signal for communicating between the target destination and the ball placement position on the playing surface is: The system includes, in response to obtaining the updated user position relative to the landmark object, displaying updated directional interface elements to provide subsequent directions toward the ball placement position.

8. In the golf system according to claim 4, the user's current position is based on at least one of the following: the position of the computing device in close proximity to the user, or the position of a tracking device wearable by the user.

9. In the golf system according to claim 8, the position of the tracking device is based on one or more sensors positioned at known locations on the playing surface.

10. In the golf system according to claim 1, the landmark object includes at least one of the flag pin or an object located in a fixed position close to the target destination on the playing surface.

11. A method for a golf system including a calculation unit associated with a user on a playing surface having multiple destinations on the playing surface, includes the following: Retrieve terrain data related to the virtual golf hole for the virtual golf ball; To emulate the virtual golf hole, the target destination of the virtual golf ball on the playing surface is determined based on the terrain data and the expected trajectory of the virtual golf ball; and A signal is generated for communicating between the target destination and the ball placement position on the playing surface. Here, determining the target destination includes: Identifying a subset of the destinations on the playing surface as appropriate target destinations; and To emulate the virtual golf hole, the target destination is determined from a subset of destinations based on the terrain data portion related to the expected trajectory of the golf ball.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the determined target destination is based on optimizing at least one of the following: the number of golfers playing the golf ball at each destination on the playing surface, the playing surface wear pattern, or the flow of golfers entering and leaving the playing surface.

13. In the method according to claim 11, generating a signal for communicating between the target destination and the ball placement position on the playing surface includes: A directional interface element is displayed for overlaying onto image data that includes a landmark object near the target destination to guide the user to the ball placement location, and the directional interface element is generated based on the landmark object and anchor data related to the user's current location.

14. In the method according to claim 13, the directional interface element is based on a polar coordinate system that provides an annular direction centered on the landmark object and a radial displacement direction based on the landmark object.

15. In the method according to claim 13, overlaying the orientation interface element on a substantially real-time image feed in the computing device provides an augmented reality view of the play surface as the user traverses the play surface.

16. In the method according to claim 13, generating a signal for communicating between the target destination and the ball placement position on the playing surface is: The system includes, in response to obtaining the updated user position relative to the landmark object, displaying updated directional interface elements to provide subsequent directions toward the ball placement position.

17. In the method according to claim 13, the user's current location is based on at least one of the location of the computing device in proximity to the user, or the location of a wearable tracking device.

18. One or more non-temporary computer-readable media containing machine-interpretable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a computer implementation for a golf system, wherein the golf system includes a computing unit associated with a user on a playing surface having destinations on multiple playing surfaces, and the implementation includes: Retrieve terrain data related to the virtual golf hole for the virtual golf ball; To emulate the virtual golf hole, the target destination of the virtual golf ball on the playing surface is determined based on the terrain data and the expected trajectory of the virtual golf ball; and A signal is generated for communicating between the target destination and the ball placement position on the playing surface. Here, determining the target destination includes: Identifying a subset of the destinations on the playing surface as appropriate target destinations; and To emulate the virtual golf hole, the target destination is determined from a subset of destinations based on the terrain data portion related to the expected trajectory of the golf ball.

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