The Consumerization of GIS: Golf Carts on a Roll

I had an interesting experience last month that opened my eyes and had me thinking about how consumer electronics has transformed GIS over the last several years. Google Earth was cool when it first came out, but nothing earth-shattering. We’ve been doing the same thing (albeit on a smaller scale) for many years. Although you can debate how much technology it brought to the table, it would be hard to argue that it didn’t bring a new level of digital mapping to the consumer.

The advancement in GIS technology sort of sneaks up on you in a Moore’s Law sort of way. Every year, the performance of desktop computer and workstation technology improves and sometimes is actually less expensive than the year before. I’ve recently written about this phenomenon when discussing the Apple iPad and the potential impact it (and similar technology) might have on the GIS industry.

My experience last month has to do with the golf industry. I’ve been involved in the golf industry for about 10 years. There are several uses for GIS and GPS in golf course construction management and operations so I keep my finger on the pulse of that industry.

You’ve probably seen (and maybe have used) some of the GPS/GIS-based products in golf. Probably the most visible are the handheld GPS receivers targeted for golf and the GPS golf carts that provide a moving map as the golfer drives around the golf course.

A quick look at what’s needed with a GPS golf cart system:

• A detailed map of the golf course is required, typically by GPS mapping all of the features (tees, fairways, bunkers, cart paths, etc.). From the GPS data, a graphical 3D (or 2D) map of the golf course is created.
• On the golf cart is a touch-screen computer with GPS built in, as well as some sort of communication link (either spread spectrum, Wi-Fi, or GPRS) to facilitate communications from each cart back to the clubhouse. GPS is used to position the location of the golf cart on the map as well as its distance to the green and other features such as ponds and sand bunkers.
• In the office, a computer with management software is used to view the status/location of each cart and manage the flow of carts on the golf course.
• A host of other features such as food/beverage ordering, 911, text messaging, etc. are available.

I was moderately involved with GPS golf cart systems five or six years ago as I had several active golf course projects ongoing.

Part of my deliverable was to provide the GIS vector data that would serve as the base map for the GPS golf cart system. In working with the golf cart systems, there were two weak areas that I could see: hardware reliability and cost.

Hardware reliability: Yesteryear

The computer hardware used several years ago in GPS golf cart systems to display the map and provide the user interface were essentially early-generation tablet computers. Reliability was an issue largely because these systems were highly customized (e.g., not mass-produced). During that time, notebook computers and LCD displays were still relatively high-end items.

GPS golf cart systems are subjected to a lot of vibration and shock, and therefore it wasn’t uncommon for three or four carts (out of ~80) to be out of order at any one time.

Hardware reliability: Today

The sales of notebook computers over the past five years has exploded. More and more, notebook computers are being used in place of desktop computers. This huge boost in production has resulted in widespread mass-production of all types of components used in notebook computers. Consumers are a hard bunch to please, and that is why the major market leaders like Dell, HP, ASUS, Toshiba, etc. have to make their products super reliable. The GPS golf cart systems have benefited tremendously from this growth. Not only are off-the-shelf systems more available and reliable today, but also less expensive than before due to economies of scale.

Yesteryear‘s return on investment

Years ago, the cost to outfit a fleet of golf carts at the typical golf club was between US$225,000 and $275,000. That is a healthy chunk of change, considering that the entire annual maintenance budget of a typical golf course is only $350,000-$450,000. Mind you, the GPS golf cart generates revenue from rental fees, increased speed of play, etc., but the return on investment (ROI) for a typical golf club was hard to justify since the golf club was left to figure out its financing.

After factoring in that the useful life of a golf cart is only about five years, you can see that convincing a golf club to invest such a large sum of money would be a difficult task…and it was. Worldwide, only several hundred (maybe a thousand at most) invested in GPS golf cart systems.

Today’s ROI

In years past, there were only a handful of startup companies designing, manufacturing, and selling GPS golf cart systems. Several of them raised venture capital money (one investor was popular Pro Golfer Greg Norman) and most of them burned through the cash without ever turning a profit.

As with most emerging markets, industry consolidation is bound to happen. With each GPS golf cart company struggling to survive on its own, the GPS golf cart business was no different. The top three industry leaders (ParView, ProLink, GPS Industries) eventually merged to form GPS Industries LLC.

GPS Industries then teamed up with Club Car, a leading golf cart manufacturer, and established the Visage GPS Golf Cart System. Last month, they introduced Visage, and I had a chance to go through the system (albeit on a tradeshow floor) with a Club Car product manager.

With Visage, the cost to the club is a nominal $40/month per cart. For an 80-cart fleet, that’s under $40,000 per year. Visage asks the golf club for a
five-year commitment, but the golf club has the choice of opting out of the agreement after a year and each year after that with no penalty.

A Perfect Storm

It was interesting for me when I looked at the Visage after not having much hands-on with GPS golf cart systems in the past several years. It was orders of magnitude better than the previous systems I had encountered. The hardware was cleaner and the software was better from a graphics/functionality perspective.

The product manager talked about the hardware being customized very little. You’ve seen the improvement in notebook computer screens over the past few years, so you can imagine the display quality of the Visage system. Of course, the computer onboard the golf cart is orders of magnitude more powerful than in previous years.

I thought to myself, this is the perfect storm of the maturation of computer technology, GPS technology, GIS technology, GPRS/Wi-Fi technology, and 3D graphics technology coming together at the right time to create a fine experience for the golfer with an affordable price tag.

Each of these technologies has matured considerably over the past few years:

• Computer technology largely follows Moore’s Law.
• GPS technology (the systems use a u-blox GPS receiver) using SBAS for GPS corrections instead of setting up/maintaining a GPS reference station and communications infrastructure for broadcasting GPS corrections.
• GIS technology using publicly available data (e.g., orthophotos and vector data) and leveraging off of the development of 3D GIS tools.
• GPRS technology (mobile phone networks) has experience tremendous growth in the past few years with very affordable data plans. I neglected to mention that the $40/month per cart cost includes the GPRS data plan. Previous generations of GPS golf cart systems used spread-spectrum or early Wi-Fi technology and required repeaters throughout the golf course to propagate the communications signal.

Visage’s GPS golf cart system is only one example of how GIS applications are leveraging of off the rapid developments occuring in consumer electronics. As I’ve written in recent columns, the Apple iPad might be a significant consumer electronic milestone that the GIS industry will leverage off of this year.

Thanks, and see you next week.

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