- Someone Used an AirPod to Record Frisbee Throwing Stats
- Tested with launches up to 45 mph and no damage
- Strava-compatible export for dedicated disc throwers
One of Apple’s most famous ads began with “Here’s to the crazy people. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently.” The text didn’t explicitly say “let’s toast those who stick AirPods on Frisbees,” but I think Steve Jobs would have approved of the Redditor who did exactly that.
Paul Tracer, aka Disastrous-Body-297, has invented a use for AirPods that I’m sure no one at Apple ever considered. He used them to upgrade a standard Frisbee and transmit data in real time. You can even export sessions to the Strava app.
Airpods can track Frisbee throws
from r/airpods
Why upgrading a frisbee with AirPods isn’t crazy
As the intrepid inventor explains: “The AirPod transmits motion data to the phone and detects/analyzes throws in real time. With optional voice feedback on the second AirPod. It measures speed, revolutions, time in the air, throw count. It also measures heart rate (either with the latest AirPods or with external HR).”
You can try it yourself: The app is the Kinapod sports metrics app, which according to the creator is currently in the Apple approval process. The AirPod literally just slides through a hole created in the center of the puck. Tracer says: “Just poke a hole in the center of the puck and you’re done! You’ll be surprised how reliable it is. The AirPod stem is not completely cylindrical, it doesn’t slide out.”
The result is a wealth of data: average speed, maximum spin, total time in the air, and more.
There’s a market for that kind of information: as one Redditor, lenfantsuave, jokingly posts, “Tech Disco: I’ll never recover financially from this.” Tech Disc is a company that makes a range of launch monitors for disc golf, priced at $299.99, that track multiple metrics and flight paths to help players improve their game, and someone from the company joined the online conversation to praise Tracer’s ingenuity.
The Tracer tracker is more of a “fun thing” than a serious setup, especially since the expensive headset isn’t the most cost-effective gyro sensors to attach to a frisbee; The risk of damage or destruction is clearly quite high, although the AirPods have survived so far, according to Tracer.
Tracer is currently chatting with Redditors on forums like r/discgolf about alternative, more affordable ways to collect data. And meanwhile, the AirPod/Frisbee combo made me and other Redditors happy: “This is so cool,” says claybythebay9, while GrandMasterFlex finds, and I even agree, “this is sick.”
As Apple’s ad said, “While some may see them as crazy, we see genius.” Or as SilverMelodyPrincess says in the Reddit thread: “Apple accidentally created the most designed frisbee stats tracker and I’m here for it.”
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