An Opportunity to Make Geocaching More Immersive, Utilizing AI Wearables

Geocaching. Let’s talk about that first. Geocaching is a hobby that millions have experienced. Think of it like real-life treasure hunting. You can read all about geocaching on Geocaching.com.

But for a TL;DR, “Geocachers” use their phone or a GPS device to navigate to a set of coordinates, then search for a hidden “cache” – usually a small container with a logbook and sometimes other souvenirs you can trade. Caches can be hidden in the ground, in trees, in plain sight, and… hopefully not on private property. Once you find it, you sign the log and log your find online. There are millions of caches hidden in over a hundred countries around the world.

Needless to say, there’s a big market for geocaching. However, there are a few things about it I don’t like:

  • There’s too much focus on “the game” and not enough focus on the landmark – I’d prefer minimizing time spent looking at my phone while exploring
  • Installing physical caches generally requires permission
  • It’s not social enough; it’s actually a rule of geocaching that you’re not supposed to tell non-geocachers what you’re doing when treasure hunting

These are problems I can fix.

Digital Instead of Physical Caches

This is a personal hot take – I don’t like digging around on land I don’t own. Heck, I don’t like digging on my own land if I can help it. It’s dirty and it attracts attention, which are two things I generally try to avoid.

But I love the idea of guided exploration. It gets me to see places I otherwise wouldn’t.

Geocaching Adventure Lab

Fortunately, I’m not alone. While physical caches are the most popular medium, Adventure Lab is a separate platform owned by Geocaching HQ that features digital caches instead of physical caches.

Here’s a TL;DR for Adventure Lab: You start an adventure in the mobile app, it gives you clues and general location of where to go, it uses your phone’s geolocation to ensure you actually visit the site, and you answer questions in the app that you wouldn’t otherwise know unless you visited. Very similar in concept to standard Geocaching, but digitally powered.

It still has the same problem as Geocaching, though – and in fact it’s worse on this point – it makes you feel like you’re playing a game on your phone instead of experiencing what’s around you. Additionally, the “proof” for completion is a little dated in a world with advanced AI and image recognition. And it’s still lacking on social experience and marketing. We can do better.

Meta AI Glasses

I’m a big Meta fan, did I mention that? Well, in a couple days from the time of writing this blog, I will be the owner of my first pair of Meta AI glasses – specifically, the Meta Ray-Ban Headliner Gen 2.

I watched Meta Connect September 17-18th, 2025. I was begging that they’d announce an SDK of some sort, and when they did, I had no choice but to go all in.

“The intersection of technology and culture is where Meta focuses” - Mark Zuckerberg

Geocaching with Smart Glasses

With the Meta Wearables Device Access Toolkit releasing later 2025, hands-free and phone-minimized geocaching becomes much more possible. Imagine a mobile app similar to Adventure Lab that integrates with your smart glasses. Imagine instead of answering text prompts on your phone for digital caches, you connect with your surroundings and complete digital adventures with your eyes.

The only reason I didn’t go with the Meta Ray-Ban Display model of the Meta glasses is because developer access to the display is currently out of scope for the preview release of the SDK. But being able to take advantage of the display on Meta’s AI glasses is clearly a future goal.

Imagine being able to geocache without pulling out your phone at all. The minimal UI necessary for geocaching could be available right in front of you when you need it, hands-free, and then back out of sight, minimizing time and focus taken away from exploration.

Honestly, it seems like a huge opportunity for Meta. Experiences like these could be the tipping point for many people. “Ok… maybe I will buy smart glasses”.

Meta’s Prowess in Social Experience

Meta is the #1 player in social media. Remember how I said the social experience of geocaching is lacking? They could fix that.

With first-party Meta support and seamless integration with Facebook and Instagram, there’s an opportunity for geocaching to become mainstream and – let’s face it – actually cool. The first step would definitely be to stop calling it geocaching. Maybe… Meta Explore.

Meta’s Investment in AI

“If we end up misspending a couple of hundred billion dollars, I think that that is going to be very unfortunate, obviously. But what I’d say is I actually think the risk is higher on the other side.” - Mark Zuckerberg

In the world of AI we’re living in, there’s no reason we should have to answer text-based questions in an app to prove we visited a place. Seems rather… 2010s. Instead, we could snap a picture with the glasses or even utilize Meta’s Live AI to solve geocaches with our eyes. Sounds pretty rad to me. And it’s in line with Meta’s vision for the future of AI. They definitely have the resources and the technical ability to provide that kind of experience.

So What’s Next?

I’m going to get my butt in gear, that’s what’s next. AI glasses integration with a geocaching-esque app would be the ultimate experience, but everyone knows the mobile market will continue to dominate for many years to come. So if there’s going to be a digital geocaching experience for smart glasses, it goes without saying the standalone mobile experience is at least equally important.

Even though the AI glasses SDK isn’t available yet, I’ll start building a mobile-first, glasses-enhanced digital exploration app for Android/iPhone.

I’m going to drop another hot take – I think Meta would be better off owning this experience, rather than contracting the work out to a company like Geocaching. I see an idea like this not as a hobby, but an extension of online culture. No one does that as well as Meta.

Idea in Action

Here’s a high-level look at what a smart glasses geocaching app could look like:

  1. Go to a geofenced zone (GPS check).
  2. Receive a visual clue or riddle.
  3. Point your camera or glasses at the correct object.
  4. AI verifies the object and reveals the digital cache.
  5. Collect points, knowledge, or share experiences with friends on social media.
  6. Users create their own custom digital caches to share online.

Final Thoughts

I really believe in this idea. I’m not an expert in business, nor marketing, nor administration. But I do love software, and I have so much passion that I may have gotten emotional just thinking about this potential opportunity. And games like Pokemon GO prove there is massive global interest in location-based games.

There’s no better time to start than tomorrow. Usually, I’d say today. But it’s getting late.

🤘 Pretty epic first blog post, eh? Get ready for more, this won’t be the last you hear about my new obsession with smart glasses.