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South African engineer Henri Johnson invented radar speed guns for ball tracking in sports, evolving the technology originally developed for military use. The first radar speed gun was created for the US military to protect landing gear on amphibious aircraft during WWII.

Johnson's speed gun measures additional characteristics like spin and trajectory. Born in the Western Cape, he studied electrical engineering at Stellenbosch University and worked on radar systems for the South African Navy.

In 1987, he founded the Electronic Development House (EDH) in Stellenbosch, launching the SpeedBall device for cricket. Revealed at the 1999 Cricket World Cup, it was later succeeded by HawkEye. Johnson also developed FlightScope technology for golf, first demonstrated in Florida in 2001 and commercialized in 2002. EDH and FlightScope have launched several products, including the FlightScope Prime and Mevo Gen2, and received multiple awards.