This paper applies the mathematics of chaos to the task of designing indoor rock-climbing routes. Chaotic variation has been used to great advantage on music and dance, but the challenges here are quite different, beginning with the representation. We present a formalized system for transcribing rock climbing problems and then describe a variation generator that is designed to support human route-setters in designing new and interesting climbing problems. This variation generator, termed strange beta, uses chaos to introduce novelty. We validated this approach with a large blinded study in a commercial climbing gym, in cooperation with experienced climbers and expert route setters. The results show that strange beta can help a human setter produce routes that are at least as good as, and in some cases better than, those produced in the traditional manner.
As mentioned above, the use of computers in creative tasks---for independent generation and or in assistance roles---is not a new idea. Computation has a particularly rich history in music composition, in both generative and assistant roles @cite_19 . Route setting for indoor climbing is viewed by its practitioners as a creative task on par with music composition, requiring substantial expertise in order to create routes that are both of an appropriate difficulty and interesting to climb. A climbing route is a prescribed sequence of dynamic movements: a sequence of symbols from a complex language not unlike a dance or a tonal music composition, both of which can also be viewed as symbol sequences. All three of these domains---climbing, music, and dance---have strong notions of style,'' but that notion is very hard to formalize, even for experienced practitioners.
@cite_19
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Models of music composition implemented on computer as generative algorithms are examined from a historical viewpoint. Correlations between chaos theory and music are described and serve as the basis for the computer program CHAOTICS, a set of modules which serve as tools for composition. The relationship between composer and computer is seen in terms of a feedback loop.