[codingdave]

I've done my share of sculpture in my life - the problems you run into when carving an item down to a desired result is often less about being able see what needs to go, and more about the structure of the underlying material, and whether it will break/crack/shatter when you try to take a specific piece off.

AR could still help - if an app could visually inspect the surface of your material, or the branches of a hedge, it might be able to flag warning signs.