{"id":564589,"date":"2026-08-10T10:30:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T10:30:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/564589\/"},"modified":"2026-08-10T10:30:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T10:30:19","slug":"is-climbing-with-augmented-reality-glasses-the-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/564589\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Climbing With Augmented Reality Glasses the Future?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Published August 10, 2026 03:00AM<\/p>\n

Aside from the holographic line blazing up the route in front of him, it was a rather normal day at the crag for Ben Pearman. Catching a brief weather window in the chilly Rockies spring, he and two friends headed for Red Shirt (5.8+), a classic trad climb up the steep limestone of Mount Yamnuska in Alberta.<\/p>\n

As they approached, Pearman thought back to his first time climbing the mountain\u2014which is notorious for difficult route-finding\u2014via a different route known as the King\u2019s Chimney (5.7 PG13). He and his friend had such a hard time finding the base of the climb that he remembers saying, \u201cDamn dude, in the future, you could probably just wear AR [augmented reality] glasses and see where the start of the route is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, he was back\u2014with AR goggles\u2014and he could indeed see the route\u2019s start, and so much more.<\/p>\n

\"JacobPearman using augmented reality (AR) glasses to stream beta while climbing (Photo: Courtesy Ben Pearman)<\/p>\n

Heading up the first pitch with Apple Vision Pro goggles strapped to his face, Pearman could see not just the rock in front of him, but a tiny model of the entire route projected off to the side. As he climbed, the goggles\u2019 cameras fed data to an algorithm trained on a miniature 3D model of the cliff, showing him exactly where he was on Red Shirt.<\/p>\n

If he needed beta, Pearman could switch to the immersive guidance mode, where icons floated along a glowing line projected directly onto the rock ahead. If all this visual overlay became annoying, he could whisk it away and switch to chat guidance mode, talking directly to an AI assistant trained to give advice about this specific climb.<\/p>\n

\u201cAm I still on the route?\u201d he asks.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re almost at the bolt,\u201d the goggles reply in the voice of one of his friends (you can customize voices in the app). \u201cKeep heading left!\u201d<\/p>\n

Augmented reality and 3D topos enter the climbing chat
\n\"AIf climbers tire of the visual AR view in RockXR, they can turn on an AI assistant to spray them down with beta in a customized voice. (Photo: Courtesy Ben Pearman)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pearman was testing out RockXR, an experimental app that he\u2019s developed to make use of augmented reality and spatial data in outdoor climbing. While the day when climbers throw AR goggles into their packs is likely far in the future, the spatial dataset he used is coming to climbing\u2014and fast\u2014as new apps take advantage of leaps in data science.<\/p>\n

A graduate student in computer science and an avid climber in Calgary, Pearman has been merging his skillsets for a while. Most of his work focuses on combining data and technology to create apps like Sloper Ice and Mixed<\/a>, an open-source database for ice climbing in the Rockies, and StraVis, which turns Strava activities into digital art.<\/p>\n

While RockXR is a prototype that will likely stay in the lab for now, he recently released another climbing-focused offering: ThreeTopo<\/a>. This app brings a miniature, 3D model of Red Shirt to your phone, annotated with the route info and its important features like bolts, anchors, and even beta for gear placement.<\/p>\n

\"aPitch 8 of Red Shirt: the 3D topo (left) compared with a photo of the route (right)\u00a0(Photo: Courtesy Ben Pearman)<\/p>\n

Pearman designed this three-dimensional topo map app to be used with one hand, allowing climbers to easily pull out their phone when they need a bit of beta on route. This 3D topo shows them every detail of the rock, bypassing what Pearman sees as subjective interpretations found in traditional guidebooks. ThreeTopo is currently available only for Red Shirt, but Pearman plans to open source his process, allowing anyone with technical ability and a drone to start building 3D topos for other routes themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that every single route in the world will have a description like this in the future,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The onset of spatial data apps in climbing<\/p>\n

Pearman\u2019s creations aren\u2019t the only apps to leverage spatial data to serve climbers. Rock Garden<\/a> and Red-Point<\/a> have mapped thousands of climbs along the contours of 3D models of entire cliff faces. Shad\u014d uses similar 3D models to predict where and when shadows will fall across a crag in the hot desert sun. Inspired by the technology used by plant-identifying apps, RouteGoat <\/a>can tell which route you are standing in front of from a quick photo of the base of the wall.<\/p>\n

Of the maelstrom of climbing apps<\/a> that barrage the modern climber, most essentially function as advanced spreadsheets, giving you information about climbs or calculating your performance statistics. The latest spatial data apps, however, represent a new generation of climbing information technology. By applying increasingly accessible spatial data and artificial intelligence, they\u2019re revolutionizing route-finding\u2014and we\u2019ve only begun to scratch the surface.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re at a place right now with technology where people can see easier or better solutions to the common problems they have with rock climbing,\u201d said Pearman.<\/p>\n

While we tend to think of the major innovations in climbing as improvements in equipment, a parallel advancement in information technology has revolutionized our ability to create and share climbing knowledge\u2014for better or worse.<\/p>\n

How topos and beta sharing are evolving
\n\"\"The 3D topo-building process in the ThreeTopo app (Photo: Courtesy Ben Pearman)<\/p>\n

From the first scratches of a topo on a piece of paper, to the development of guidebooks with full-color images of thousands of climbs, our ability to communicate information about a route has progressed dramatically. Through a quick search of online databases, you can now find information on just about any climb on the planet.<\/p>\n

Some of these new and forthcoming apps aim to solve for the shortcomings of guidebooks, which, of course, have never been perfect. Authors must squish a complicated, three-dimensional structure onto a two-dimensional page. Flakes get flattened, dihedrals get spread, and climbers often find themselves confused.<\/p>\n

Like many other climbers, Berk Frei has more than enough stories of accidental orienteering missions. When he founded Rock Garden, he hoped that applying a 3D format to guidebook info would help climbers visualize their climbs beforehand. His app allows users to step into the route itself, helping them feel more prepared and (hopefully) spend less time faffing around in the lichen off-route.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpatial data invites the opportunity to think for yourself,\u201d said Frei. While photography and video are media that we passively consume, spatial data asks you to \u201clook around, explore, and understand your surroundings in a way that no other data set or medium has ever allowed.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Frei and his team haven\u2019t updated Rock Garden since 2022, they are busy creating Legend Guide. This new platform gives anyone with a phone and beta the ability to build 3D route models. They plan to release the web app later this summer.<\/p>\n

In the last four years, \u201cso much has happened with the tech,\u201d said Frei. \u201cThings have just gotten so much faster and better. I do think this is the moment for spatial data to enhance the storytelling of individuals and groups.\u201d<\/p>\n

More time climbing, less time route-finding
\n\"RouteGoatRouteGoat delivers an AR experience that allows climbers to identify routes on a wall with their camera (Courtesy: RouteGoat)<\/p>\n

Frei isn\u2019t alone in his belief that spatial data can enhance the transmission of information. Hunter Battle, the creator of the RouteGoat app, saw how easily modern phones could identify images of plants.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we can do it for plants,\u201d he thought, \u201cwe can do it for rocks.\u201d<\/p>\n

After spending a year developing the software, Battle is now scouting for data all around the Pacific Northwest, adding hundreds of climbs a week to his database that stretches from Squamish to Phoenix.<\/p>\n

Battle\u2019s own frustrating experiences puttering around at the base of the crag searching for routes inspired him to create his app. However, he believes that RouteGoat will most benefit new outdoor sport climbers, fresh out of the gym.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s pretty intimidating, and it definitely makes you feel stupid if you can\u2019t find your route,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m just trying to lower the barrier for those people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pearman too, believes that these new technologies will not only make climbing more accessible, but safer, too. In surveying individuals who had climbed Red Shirt, Pearman found that 15% of the people he talked to had gone off route. Another 35% had almost done so. Of the seven climbers who test-ran his app, none reported straying from the route.<\/p>\n

As with all information technology, the goal is to help climbers make better decisions in the situations they face. Yet, more data does not always make for better climbing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe point of the tool is to make you more prepared,\u201d said Pearman, but \u201cthe more prepared you are, the less of an adventure it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, does more data mean a better climbing experience?
\n\"aPearman climbing with RockXR (Photo: Courtesy Ben Pearman)<\/p>\n

The debate between thrill and safety is almost as old as climbing itself, but for Bee Carol, a climbing guide in the UK, the introduction of this new technology is about more than just the culture wars that ignite on Mountain Project forums.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor people who have done a lot of climbing already, I think this kind of app can smooth the process of finding routes,\u201d said Carol. Yet, she adds that \u201cif you are learning to climb at the outset, finding where to go and finding the route and figuring it out is a really big part of the learning process. It\u2019d be detrimental if that\u2019s skipped.\u201d<\/p>\n

Already, technology has done a lot of smoothing. GPS and satellites have allowed climbers to think less about navigating to a climb and more about climbing. As we keep leaning on crutches rather than exercising our own abilities, we become more and more dependent on that technology. Andy Genereux, a guidebook author in the Rockies and a climber of over 50 years, believes this over-reliance on technology poses a risk greater than getting lost in the first place.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the technology goes dead on you, you don\u2019t have that skill set to figure it out,\u201d Genereux said. \u201cNow [you\u2019re] up the creek without a paddle.\u201d<\/p>\n

This may be true for technologies of the past. However, as apps like ThreeTopo come onto the playing field, proponents maintain that the three-dimensional nature of these platforms are more conducive to how human brains process information. This makes these apps far more powerful learning tools than 2D maps, for example.<\/p>\n

For Frei, the founder of Rock Garden, these new technologies are not a replacement for navigation or sound judgement. Their purpose is to help people better understand and explore the rocks they climb.<\/p>\n

If you \u201ctake away that scary demon of the unknown,\u201d Frei reflected, \u201cthere\u2019s this whole world of rock, and climbing in particular, that is just waiting to be discovered.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published August 10, 2026 03:00AM Aside from the holographic line blazing up the route in front of him,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":564590,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[134956,111,139,69,39729,277868,277869,145,2359],"class_list":["post-564589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-audio-true","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-parent_category-news","tag-tag-climbing-technology","tag-tag-topo","tag-technology","tag-type-article"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=564589"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564589\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/564590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=564589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=564589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=564589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}