Digitally Assisted Billiards makes everyone a pool shark

There's cheating, and then there's out-thinking the room. Georgia Tech's own Justin Needham and Matthew Straub are clearly headed for great things, as their Digitally Assisted Billiards is reason enough to give these guys a degree in our eyes. Using an array of low-end kit -- just an eBox 2300 embedded computer, Logitech webcam, 4- x 3-foot mirror, a VGA projector, pool table and a few extenders -- the two were able to concoct a system for visually displaying the expected trajectory of all possible shots based on the location of the balls still on the slate. For a much better idea of what we're hinting at, check the demonstration video after the break.

[Via Hack-A-Day]

[Giroro Posted Dec 12th 2008 12:18AM]

They wouldn't be having problems if they were using havoc physics.

[anonamiss Posted Dec 12th 2008 11:11AM]

Sweet Jeebus!

"It's not a good system"
"It can't beat a professional"
"I could have done that"
"These guys suck at pool"

This is a system nobody has ever done or tried before. They're using software they wrote themselves. They're using a $50 webcam. Nowhere in the video do they claim to be 1337 p001 h4xx0rZ or anything. They're not even trying to sell the product. I'm downright impressed with what they've come up with. It's innovative and shows intelligence. Someday, this could be developed into a viable product, but did the inventor of the car make a Ferrari F430 on his first try?

[Datacide Posted Dec 12th 2008 3:51PM]

Man, I've been waiting for this! The only issue with it of course is that it doesn't account for the amount of force.

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 12th 2008 4:22PM]

Bright boys, no doubt. But as a former competetive player I can say there is no place for this in billiards. It doesn't matter if you know where to hit it. All of us (players) see the angles anyway. Pool is about positioning your next shot so it's easy. For every hard shot a good player will have at least 7-10 very easy ones. My personal best is 49 in a row (strait pool) and maybe 10 -12 were tough shots. The rest were "ducks" set up by positioning the cue ball. If a player has to shoot dificult shots all the time he is probably not very good.

[matbrady Posted Dec 12th 2008 7:22PM]

As a prototype it shows promise- well done to those guys for getting it past the "just an idea" stage.

I could imagine the final product would read what colour the ball is and change the colour of each line to match it.

It would eventually be given an arcade treatment and have: text prompts about which player is up next; high score charts between games scrolling on the felt; and, what would be quite fun, little fireworks effects projected on the felt as the balls strike each other.

It reminds me of those crap animations on the bowling alley screens that change according to how well your last shot was.

I wish these guys luck. :)