AI shot and ball tracking:
The mobile device camera monitors key points on the table and maps ball movement during drills.
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DrillRoom
AI-Powered Billiards Training App That Turns an iPhone into a Personal Pool Coach
- [Industry]
- Sports Tech, Consumer Mobile
- [Services]
- Product Strategy & Validation, UX/UI Design, iOS App Development, AI & Computer Vision R&D, Prototyping & User Testing, Continuous Product Iteration
- App Store rating
- 4.6 / 5
- Downloads
- 35K+
- Languages
- 11
[About the product]
DrillRoom started as an OrangeLoops R&D initiative around computer vision and object detection. The team wanted to explore whether a phone camera could generate meaningful performance data for amateur sports, and pool became the proving ground.
What came out of that work was more than a technical demo. DrillRoom became a live iOS product that blends AI, AR, and product design into a training experience that helps billiards players practice targeted drills, review performance, and improve session after session.
[The challenge]
Make computer vision useful on a real pool table, not just in a prototype
The ambition behind DrillRoom was straightforward: give players better feedback while they practice without forcing them to buy specialized training hardware. The hard part was making that experience reliable enough to feel credible in real-world play.
With multiple balls on the table, event detection became harder, tracking quality could drop, and machine learning performance depended on continuous testing and data curation. At the same time, the product needed to be practical for everyday players, not just technically impressive in a lab setting.
Before committing to a full product build, OrangeLoops validated interest with the billiards community on Reddit in 2021 and gathered insight from amateur players, coaches, and industry experts. That feedback helped define which workflows, drills, and coaching moments would matter most once the app was live.
[The solution]
A mobile training experience built around drills, feedback, and progression
OrangeLoops designed DrillRoom as both an AI product and a consumer training app. Players place an iPhone or iPad on a tripod, run through guided exercises, and get a clearer view of how each session is going through scoring, metrics, and visual feedback.
The product focuses on helping players practice intentionally. Instead of trying to analyze every possible table condition equally well, DrillRoom emphasizes specific exercises and progress loops that make the app useful in real training sessions.
Personalized practice flows:
The app can surface exercises that address weak spots and help players work on accuracy with more structure.
AR-enhanced coaching:
Visual overlays make drills easier to understand and turn the device into a more interactive training guide.
Performance reports and voice feedback:
Scores, session metrics, and audio guidance help users understand progress beyond a single shot result.
Leaderboard and progress sharing:
Monthly rankings and community features make training feel social instead of isolated.
[Under the hood]
Validation, UX work, and model tuning had to move together
DrillRoom only worked as a product because technical experimentation and product design were handled as one system. OrangeLoops kept refining the concept through discovery, iterative testing, and design work that translated complex feedback into something players could actually use.
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Define the right use cases before scaling the build
Stakeholder interviews, community validation, and benchmarking helped OrangeLoops identify where DrillRoom could create genuine value. The team mapped scenarios for amateur players, coaches, and progression-minded users before overinvesting in the wrong product surface.
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Turn advanced tracking into an experience people can trust
Ideation, UX mapping, wireframing, and interactive design were critical to making the product approachable. User feedback also pushed improvements such as stronger iPad support and ongoing refinements to the training flow as the app evolved.
[The outcome]
An R&D idea became a live AI training product for billiards players
DrillRoom moved from internal exploration into a real consumer product used by billiards players looking for more structure in their training. The app combines drills, performance tracking, AR visuals, AI coaching, and community mechanics in one experience that fits on a phone or tablet.
That matters because it turns a normally expensive coaching workflow into a repeatable mobile product. Instead of practicing alone with limited feedback, players can work through guided exercises and see clearer progress over time.
-
35K+
Downloads
Meaningful user adoption. DrillRoom reached a broad player base beyond the initial concept-validation phase.
-
11
Languages
Broader reach. The product was localized to support an international billiards audience.
-
4.6
App Store rating
A strong product signal. Players responded positively to the experience, validating DrillRoom as more than a technical experiment and positioning it as a portable virtual coach for cue sports practice.
[Tech stack]
- Computer Vision
- Machine Learning
- Augmented Reality
- iOS
- iPadOS
- Product Analytics
“I have been using DrillRoom for over two years. It’s a fun way to practice and it lets you focus on the drill by keeping score automatically. […] At an annual subscription price, it’s less than an hour with a coach.”
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