Holland, Ohio – Clarity.Golf’s growing reputation in golf tech innovation will be displayed in booth 2033 at this year’s PGA Merchandise Show. It has invited tech startup FeedbacK Coach AI to demonstrate a beta derivative of its new artificial intelligence/machine learning driven marker-less body tracking system with predictive coaching.
Clarity.Golf Founder Bill Bales, an indoor golf industry icon, has aligned Clarity with what Bales says is the next level of AI marker-less body tracking and coaching.
“FeedbacK’s vCoach system is quite different from the current marker-less body tracking product in that where the current product is a delightful smartphone app that tends to be more of a novelty for average golfers, FeedbacK Coach Places focus on accuracy and intelligent coaching feedback designed for more serious golfers and teaching pros.
I’ve met with and spoken to dozens of pros who have enjoyed the current product but have not found it at a level yet for serious use. The technology applied in both products, 3D pose estimation, is truly the future of body tracking, and the current products can be advanced over time. But FeedbacK’s accuracy and unique AI coaching component is ready for primetime right now.
FeedbacK’s vCoach is not an apples to apples, or ‘me-too’ product compared to its competition. The first iteration will be a formal studio setup at a much higher price point. We’re initially targeting the discerning players and teachers versus chasing the masses,” said Bales.
The creators of FeedbacK Coach AI are Shawn McDonald and Roz McCreery, two NASA “eggheads” who took up golf at a later age and were not satisfied with available learning systems.
Shawn McDonald said, “When I took up golf I just couldn’t find the game improvement IP I wanted, so I tapped Roz, Jeff Brandt–one of the best technical guys I’ve ever worked with–and PGA teaching professional Jamie Conners. Since then, we’ve been on an amazing adventure developing FeedbacK Coach. After some disappointments within the golf industry we found Bill Bales. And here we are.”
Craig van Vliet, Clarity CTO and co-founder, said “I’m not easily impressed, but vCoach was the exception. What particularly hit me was the depth of validation Shawn and Roz did. Their deep dive into matching the “eyes” of the system with the eyes of twenty different teaching pros clearly validated that vCoach sees what the pros want to see–more accurately than they do.”
The “NASA girls,” as Bales likes to call them, originally entered into an MOU with Topgolf’s then CTO, a huge fan of FeedbacK Coach. Through a test system at Topgolf’s Virginia Beach location, they advanced their IP with over 400,000 recorded videos of a wide range of players. Subsequent to
Topgolf’s merger with Callaway, the project was canceled, somehow no longer aligned with Callaway’s vision for Topgolf.
“Callaway’s decision to not move forward with Shawn and Roz was like manna from heaven for Clarity. We’ll take the manna and leave the beer and chicken sandwiches to Topgolf.” said Bales. “I’ve been obsessed with marker-less body tracking since before anyone thought it possible. We’re thrilled.
We couldn’t carry Callaway’s lunch on our best day and their worst, but we’re experienced, knowledgeable, mobile, with massive passion and a bunch of disruptive IP in development that syncs perfectly with FeedbacK Coach. Shawn and Roz are brilliant engineers who have done things at
NASA at the absolute highest level. They’ve got noteworthy derivatives planned, including a smartphone version. We’re going to have a lot of fun.”
“As painful as it was to lose Topgolf and Callaway, it’s the best thing that could have happened. The entire Clarity.Golf team is amazing, and shares our passion for achievement and execution,” said Roz McCreery, FeedbacK Coach AI co-founder.
About FeedbacK Coach AI
FeedbacK Enterprise, LLC d.b.a. FeedbacK Coach AI (www.feedbackcoachai.com) helps people train while performing a repeatable motion by delivering individualized coaching via real-time markerless body tracking and predictive machine learning. The team is a strong blend of systems engineering, software development, data science, project management, & business management skills. Unlike other solutions that provide performance and health data, FeedbacK’s vCoach system provides coaching for any repeatable motion.
Clarity.Golf (www.clarity.golf) is a golf technology company focused on launch monitors, simulators, related technologies–and in delivering free knowledge to these markets. Clarity.Golf’s team is made up of prime movers within the indoor golf industry, including brilliant folks around the world working daily to educate and advise the indoor golf markets, and to manifest next-generation technologies.
For more information email Bill Bales at billbales@clarity.golf, or text him at 419-470-9890
