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possible to alter routes and make new ones for the climbers on the fly the theme
of
Risk as a measure of progress
is also addressed.
Design Opportunities.
Currently these systems work indoors, if they could
be extended to work outdoors then this would help embrace the theme of
expe-
riencing beauty and nature
by making use of a natural, real world environment.
Routes could perhaps be created by one climber for another that would take
what is judged by the route creator as the most scenic. Projection systems could
also be configured to simulate outdoor conditions indoors, such as simulating
weather conditions, overlaying images of real mountain trails or displaying dif-
ferent scenery for different climbing attempts.
3.3 Wearable Systems
The
ClimbAX
[14] system was designed with climbers that wish to improve
their performance in mind. Accelerometers are worn on the climber's wrists
which record the climber's movements as they ascend the wall. An automatic
assessment is then made on the recorded data in order to report to the climber
post-climb information regarding their power, control, stability and speed during
the climb. The purpose of the system is to automate and replicate the input
climbers would receive from a real life coach. Results from a trial of the system
found that the devices were accurate in predicting the score a climber may
achieve at competition level. This is interesting since it illustrates how climbing
experiences could be utilised by serious climbers who compete at competition
level.
Themes Addressed
There are several themes addressed by this system, the
first is
maintaining challenge
, which is accomplished since the system reports on
the progress of the climber allowing them to ensure they tackle more dicult
routes or use new climbing techniques.
Documenting and reliving experience
is
apparent since the progress is recorded and plotted on graphs that can be used
in the future to gauge performance. Finally the theme of
experiencing beauty
and nature
could be supported if the system is used outdoors.
Design Opportunities.
Risk as a measure of progress
is affected by such sys-
tems since the system is informing the climber that they are improving through
data sets and graphs and not through their own judgement. Perhaps a better
way to represent progress is to allow the climber to judge their own performance
with the system offering suggestions of different routes the climber may want to
climb next, e.g. “you did well, why not try something more dicult next time?”.
The theme of
social engagement
is limited in this system since a computer is
informing the climber of the progress in a bid to replace a human coach. Perhaps
such wearable systems could feed information regarding climbers' physiological
status to a coach or fellow climbers so that they can help to guide the climber
