The five members of SmartWallTeam members:

  • Anil Damli
  • Matanya Horowitz
  • Kirk Liu
  • Mark VanKempen
  • Steve Willson

Rock climbing has rapidly grown in popularity over the last several years. As increasingly large numbers of climbers have joined the sport, there has been a question as to the routes available at indoor gyms. A balance must be struck which both takes into account the needs of beginners as well as the challenge expected by seasoned climbers, all within a limited amount of rock climbing space. SmartWall attempts to mitigate this difficulty, providing for a dynamic, intelligent rock wall that is immediately customizable depending on the user. It will do this by dynamically allocating hand holds for new, profile-specific routes, as well as providing feedback to the user, using data gathered from a variety of sensors to both score and improve the climber.

The basic element of the SmartWall is the handhold, which contains the sensor data and provides output directly to the user through dynamic coloring. These modular, individualized handholds are supplemented by a Host Controller, which coordinates the communication of these handholds on a panel of the SmartWall. These Host Controllers are then able to interface with a Host Computer that provides for intelligent analysis of the data as well as immediate route creation.