Tokyo-based system integrator developing LBS (location-based service) and GIS (geographic information system) applications Wave On[J] just introduced a convenient iPhone/iPod touch app for golf lovers.
This is called Question Yards[E/J] and allows you to measure the approximate distance to the pin on a green that marks the hole by taking a picture having the pin and your golf ball with the iPhone-embedded camera. The app will calculate the distance based on the ratio of the pin’s length on-screen to its real height. The golf pin is usually seven feet high as every golfer knows, and you need not to enter the number of the height on the app. It does work on the same principle as the golf scope monocular.
The company expects that the population of amateur golfers will be rapidly growing because golf is intend to be introduced as an official summer Olympic sport in 2016, and it also expects the app to be purchased by beginner golfers who have suffered from reading the distance when making an approach.
All the processes are completed within the app and require no Internet connectivity, which allows you to use it on a green sometimes located out of the cellphone service coverage.
Masaru IKEDA