New Ground Technology uses GPS positioning to transfer imagery from a tractor device, without mowing or using paint, by bending the turf to create light and dark contrasts. Successfully executed on major-league baseball fields, the company thinks the process, which takes only an hour and can be erased in the same time, is also ideal for advertising sponsors at golf events.
New Ground Technology, which has taken outfield mowing patterns and other decorative touches favored by baseball-field groundskeepers to a new digital level, Digital Trends reported, now seeks to bring the same features to golf courses for corporate events and other purposes.
The technology behind TurfPrinter digital lawn imaging doesn’t include paint or mowing, company founder Pete Davis told the Golf Channel in a video interview at the Golf Industry Show. The imagery transfers to sports fields through air from a tractor device, according to the company’s website. Using GPS positioning, the air bends the turf to create light and dark contrasts on the field.
New Ground Technology calls these turf graphics “horizontal billboards,” Digital Trends reported, and the setup for them is deceivingly simple. A laser-based system and mobile receiver maps the site and graphic positions. The tractor starts at the first corner, the driver selects the image, and the tractor “prints” on the turf as it runs across the field.
“I came up with [the idea] several years ago, looking at a baseball field,” Davis said. “I saw the light and dark stripes, and I went, ‘That’s really powerful; that contrast is amazing. If I can just figure out a way to put those light and dark stripes down into small squares, where you can get the reflective light to shine into the fans’ eyes’ — that’s where I came up with [the idea].”
The turf graphics technology won’t damage the turf, Davis said. On golf courses, it can be used for corporate golf events and to advertise sponsors.
“All of these images that we put down in large areas take less than an hour,” Davis said. “They can be erased in about the same amount of time.”
New Ground Technology was the first graphics company to “print” digital designs on sports fields, Digital Trends reported. The company’s ground-breaking debut dazzled viewers with the iconic “SF” logo at the San Francisco Giants’ home opener at AT&T Park on April 9, 2016.
The company received the Innovative Award at the Sports Turf Managers Association show in January 2017
Turf graphics will likely be seen on golf courses this year, Digital Trends reported.
Davis’ Golf Industry Show interview with the Golf Channel can be seen here: http://www.digitaltrends.com/outdoors/turf-graphics-to-mark-golf-courses/
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