Assistive Technologies for Rock Climbing

 felix.kosmalla@dfki.de

Rock climbing involves complex movements and therefore requires guidance when acquiring a new technique. In this line of research, we are exploring new ways of human machine interaction that gives in-situ feedback to athletes. To achieve this, we conduct research in the areas of social acceptance of technologies, movement sensing and digital feedback methods. The latter include visual and tactile feedback, on the body as well as in the environment of the user. For this, we utilize projections, smart glasses, as well as virtual reality headsets. While this research focusses on rock climbing, we are applying the gained insights to general motor learning tasks (i.e. other sports disciplines and rehabilitation).

Legal Notice | Data Protection

Climbing in the Virtual Reality

Climbing in VR

Virtual reality (VR) climbing systems registering physical climbing walls with immersive virtual environments (IVEs) have been a focus of past research. Such systems can provide physical user experiences similar to climbing in (extreme) outdoor environments. In this research area we contributed the design and implementation of several VR climbing prototypes as well as studies on perception while beeing immersed in a climbing VE.

Kosmalla, F., Zenner, A., Speicher, M., Daiber, F., Herbig, N., & Krüger, A. (2017, May). Exploring rock climbing in mixed reality environments. In Proceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1787-1793).

Kosmalla, F., Zenner, A., Tasch, C., Daiber, F., & Krüger, A. (2020, April). The Importance of Virtual Hands and Feet for Virtual Reality Climbing. In Extended Abstracts of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-8).

Kosmalla, F., Daiber, F., & Krüger, A. (2022, April). InfinityWall–Vertical Locomotion in Virtual Reality using a Rock Climbing Treadmill. In CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems Extended Abstracts (pp. 1-6).

Giving Real-Time Feedback During Climbing

Climbing Feedback - Climbvis Since climbing is a complex sport that requires a substantial amount of focus during performance, fitting feedback channels need to be used to communicate with the athlete during an ascent. We conducted a set of studies, investigating differnt feedback approaches.

Kosmalla, F., Daiber, F., Wiehr, F., & Krüger, A. (2017, October). Climbvis: Investigating in-situ visualizations for understanding climbing movements by demonstration. In Proceedings of the 2017 ACM International Conference on Interactive Surfaces and Spaces (pp. 270-279).

Kosmalla, F., Wiehr, F., Daiber, F., Krüger, A., & Löchtefeld, M. (2016, May). Climbaware: Investigating perception and acceptance of wearables in rock climbing. In Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1097-1108).