Walltopia Group, a world leader in the climbing and adventure & leisure industries, has presented new technology that allows climbing gyms with auto belays to upgrade surveillance systems.
With the increasing prevalence of smart technologies in everyday life, the firm has said that “sports should not be an exception, especially when it comes to safety”. Walltopia Group with its daughter company Techtopia has released its first commercially available climbing alarm system, Higher Eye, which uses AI technology.
The cutting-edge device uses a combination of IP cameras with AI software on a local server. With the system being installed and tested primarily at the Walltopia headquarters facility, the Higher Eye system can now be ordered by prospective customers through an early bird offer.
Techtopia CEO Dian Deskov says: “Every climbing facility owner will tell you that safety is their top priority. Yet, no matter how qualified your staff is, human errors will always happen. Even more so in the last years when there are more climbers indoors than ever.”
Looking out for climbers
Developed by Techtopia, Higher Eye entrusts staff with 360° surveillance of facility spaces, helping detect potentially dangerous behaviour, and pinpointing problem spots.
The next-generation smart assistant is suitable for a range of centre types and is a digital upgrade to analogue belay gates, commonly used in any facility fitted with auto-belay systems.
Professional gym supervisors working with Walltopia say: “No matter how brightly coloured the gates are, or how bold the messages on the triangles are, young climbers are often distracted and risk forgetting to attach themselves to the auto-belay.
“We are happy that nowadays climbing is more accessible and popular than ever, rather than being an exclusive club for only the most experienced and enlightened – but with climbing becoming accessible to a wider audience, we have also become more vulnerable to human errors and miscalculations.
“We need a system that is smarter, easy to install and use, and efficient in giving immediate signals to staff members when there’s an unsafe activity on the walls”.
Higher Eye’s AI technology meets these requirements by providing end-to-end video-based analysis in real-time.
“Extremely effective” solution
Higher Eye cameras can be installed on ground-based poles, ceilings, or various other locations in proximity to the climbing area. A dedicated neural network detects unsafe behaviour, sending information to the server, and activating a sound and laser signal to where the inappropriate activity is taking place. “It is an extremely effective alarm system that solves a complex problem in an elegant and timely way,” says Deskov.
“Experience taught us that with more and more people from all generations and all walks of life entering the modern state-of-the-art climbing facilities, the potential for risk becomes higher. We believe that the perfect combination of skilled supervisors plus smart technological assistants can guarantee us that.”
Higher Eye can also be used as a safety assurance solution for outdoor wall facilities, but also for other activities such as swinging attractions and challenges.
More information, including details of the Early Bird rate, can be found on the Techtopia website.
Adventure Facility Concepts & Management (AFCM) recently opened a new climbing centre specifically designed for children, under the same roof as the Walltopia Climbing Center, the largest climbing gym in Eastern Europe.
