Ball position identification system, ball position identification method and information storage medium

1 . A ball position identifying system comprising:

at least one memory device storing computer program code; and

at least one processor configured to execute the computer program code and to cause the ball position identifying system to operate according to the computer program code, wherein the computer program code comprises:

flight distance identification code configured to cause at least one of the at least one processor to identify, based on a measurement value acquired from a measurement terminal, a flight distance of a golf ball that has been hit by a clubhead, a trajectory of the clubhead at a time of impact with the golf ball, and an angle between a line extending over a shortest distance between the measurement terminal and the golf ball at a time of the measurement and a line extending in a direction which the measurement terminal is directed at the time of the measurement;

terminal position identification code configured to cause at least one of the at least one processor to identify a geographical position of the measurement terminal at the time of the measurement and an orientation toward which the measurement terminal is directed at the time of the measurement;

ball position identification code configured to cause at least one of the at least one processor to identify a geographical position of the golf ball after it lands based on the terminal position, the terminal orientation, the flight distance, the trajectory of the clubhead, and the angle;

image acquisition code configured to cause at least one of the at least one processor to acquire a captured moving image through an imaging unit included in the measurement terminal;

image analysis code configured to cause at least one of the at least one processor to identify an intra-image position of the golf ball in at least one frame of the captured moving image; and

accuracy identification code configured to cause at least one of the at least one processor to identify, based on a number of the at least one frame in which the intra-image position is identified, an accuracy of at least one of the flight distance or the angle.

2 . The ball position identifying system of claim 1 , wherein the image acquisition code is further configured to cause at least one of the at least one processor to cause a scene of a player hitting the golf ball to be displayed on a display, and

wherein the flight distance identification code is further configured to cause at least one of the least one processor to identify the flight distance of the golf ball and the angle based on the intra-image position.

3 . The ball position identifying system of claim 1 , wherein the computer program code further comprises:

remaining distance identification code configured to cause at least one of the at least one processor to identify a remaining distance in a hole of ongoing golf play based on the geographical position of the golf ball and the accuracy; and

recommended club specifying code configured to cause at least one of the at least one processor to identify a club number which is recommended to be used for a next shot, wherein the club number corresponds to and is based on the flight distance and the remaining distance.

4 . The ball position identifying system of claim 1 , wherein the computer program code further comprises:

remaining distance identification code configured to cause at least one of the at least one processor to identify a remaining distance in a hole of ongoing golf play based on the geographical position of the golf ball; and

recommended club specifying code configured to cause at least one of the at least one processor to identify a club number which is recommended to be used for a next shot based on the flight distance and the remaining distance.

5 . The ball position identifying system of claim 4 ,

wherein the remaining distance identification code is further configured to identify the remaining distance based on the geographical position of the golf ball and the accuracy.

6 . The ball position identifying system of claim 1 ,

wherein the flight distance identification code is further configured to cause at least one of the at least one processor to identify, based on respective measurement values acquired from the measurement terminal, respective flight distances of each of a plurality of golf balls that have been hit by a clubhead from among one or more clubheads, a trajectory of each of the one or more clubheads at a time of impact with the respective golf ball of the plurality of golf balls, and an angle between a line extending over a shortest distance between the measurement terminal and each of the plurality of golf balls at a time of the measurement and a line extending in a direction which the measurement terminal is directed at the time of the respective measurements,

wherein the terminal position identification code is further configured to cause at least one of the at least one processor to identify a geographical position of the measurement terminal at the time of each of the respective measurements and an orientation toward which the measurement terminal is directed at the time of each of the respective measurements,

wherein the ball position identification code is further configured to cause at least one of the at least one processor to identify respective geographical positions for each of the plurality of golf balls after they land based on the respective terminal position, terminal orientation, flight distance, and trajectory of the clubhead associated with each of the plurality of golf balls, and

wherein the computer program code further comprises hole image generation code configured to cause at least one of the at least one processor to display the geographical positions of the plurality of golf balls on a display unit included in the measurement terminal.

7 . The ball position identifying system of claim 6 , wherein the hole image generation code is further configured to cause at least one of the at least one processor to generate notification information comprising an order of remaining distances associated with the geographical positions of the plurality of golf balls, and displaying the notification information on the display.

8 . The ball position identifying system of claim 1 , wherein the computer program code further comprises ball data transmission code configured to cause at least one of the at least one processor to transmit ball position data comprising the geographical position of the golf ball.

9 . A ball position identifying method comprising:

identifying, based on a measurement value acquired from a measurement terminal, a flight distance of a golf ball that has been hit by a clubhead, a trajectory of the clubhead at a time of impact with the golf ball, and an angle between a line extending over a shortest distance between the measurement terminal and the golf ball at a time of the measurement and a line extending in a direction which the measurement terminal is directed at the time of the measurement;

identifying a geographical position of the measurement terminal at the time of the measurement and an orientation toward which the measurement terminal is directed at the time of the measurement;

identifying a geographical position of the golf ball after it lands based on the terminal position, the terminal orientation, the flight distance, the trajectory of the clubhead, and the angle;

acquiring a captured moving image through an imaging unit included in the measurement terminal;

identifying an intra-image position of the golf ball in at least one frame of the captured moving image; and

identifying, based on a number of the at least one frame in which the intra-image position is identified, an accuracy of at least one of the flight distance or the angle.

10 . A non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions stored therein, which when executed by at least one processor cause the at least one processor to execute a method of identifying a ball position, the method comprising:

identifying, based on a measurement value acquired from a measurement terminal, a flight distance of a golf ball that has been hit by a clubhead, a trajectory of the clubhead at a time of impact with the golf ball, and an angle between a line extending over a shortest distance between the measurement terminal and the golf ball at a time of the measurement and a line extending in a direction which the measurement terminal is directed at a-the time of the measurement;

identifying a geographical position of the measurement terminal at the time of the measurement and an orientation toward which the measurement terminal is directed at the time of the measurement;

identifying a geographical position of the golf ball after it lands based on the terminal position, the terminal orientation, the flight distance, the trajectory of the clubhead, and the angle;

acquiring a captured moving image through an imaging unit included in the measurement terminal;

identifying an intra-image position of the golf ball in at least one frame of the captured moving image; and

identifying, based on a number of the at least one frame in which the intra-image position is identified, an accuracy of at least one of the flight distance or the angle.