Audiovisual communication of object-names improves the spatial accuracy of recalled object-locations in topographic maps

Abstract

Knowing the correct location of a specific object learned from a (topographic) map is fundamental for orientation and navigation tasks. Spatial reference systems, such as coordinates or cardinal directions, are helpful tools for any geometric localization of positions that aims to be as exact as possible. Considering modern visualization techniques of multimedia cartography, map elements transferred through the auditory channel can be added easily. Audiovisual approaches have been discussed in the cartographic community for many years. However, the effectiveness of audiovisual map elements for map use has hardly been explored so far. Within an interdisciplinary (cartography-cognitive psychology) research project, it is examined whether map users remember object-locations better if they do not just read the corresponding place names, but also listen to them as voice recordings. This approach is based on the idea that learning object-identities influences learning object-locations, which is crucial for map-reading tasks. The results of an empirical study show that the additional auditory communication of object names not only improves memory for the names (object-identities), but also for the spatial accuracy of their corresponding object-locations. The audiovisual communication of semantic attribute information of a spatial object seems to improve the binding of object-identity and object-location, which enhances the spatial accuracy of object-location memory.

Raumbezogene Visualisierung trifft auf Landschaftsforschung und „Pinballology“: Beispiele der Landschaftskonstruktion in Flipperspielen

“…Thanks to developments in neighboring academic disciplines and related industries, such as gaming, informatics and (other) engineering fields, the opportunities for enhancing the visualization of geographic space are undergoing a permanently ongoing development. This leads to new variants of media that can include many new facets and features, such as high-quality sound (e.g., Berger and Bill 2019;Edler and Vetter 2019;Indans et al 2019;Hruby 2019;Lammert-Siepmann et al 2017;Schito and Fabrikant 2018), information graphics (Dunlap and Lowenthal 2016;Meier 2017;Schiewe 2017), 3D animation (Edler et al 2018a;Kersten et al 2018;Lovett et al 2015), and gamified interaction techniques (Ahlqvist 2011;Kapenekakis and Chorianopoulos 2017;Lütjens et al 2019)-to name just a few examples that are intensively discussed in recent international literature of cartography and related disciplines.…”

Audiovisual Cartography: Established and New Multimedia Approaches to Represent Soundscapes

“…In the map itself, speech can be linked with specific geographical areas and give information about data and facts that can be read already (redundant information transfer), such as place names, land use categories or precipitation values. Recent cartographic research shows that the additional auditory communication of object names improves not only the memory of names (object-identities), but also the spatial accuracy of their corresponding object-locations (Lammert-Siepmann et al 2017). The audiovisual communication of semantic attributes of represented spatial objects seems to improve the binding of object identity and object location, which even enhances the spatial accuracy of object-location memory.…”

“…location (the position of a sound), loudness (the magnitude of a sound), pitch (the highness or lowness of a sound), register (the relative location of a pitch in a given range of pitches), timbre (the general prevailing quality or characteristic of a sound), duration (the length of time a sound is or is not heard), rate of change (the varying duration of a sound over time), order (the sequence of sound over time) and attack/decay (the time it takes a sound to reach its maximum/minimum). Perceivable changes/differences of these sound variables likely-a clear empirical verification is still missing by today (Ballatore et al 2018;Lammert-Siepmann et al 2017;Schiewe 2015)-facilitate a proper decoding of auditorily encoded spatial information.…”

A Software Tool for the Experimental Investigation of Cognitive Effects in Audiovisual Maps

“…The tool is based on ActionScript 3.0, and updated versions of the tool are exported in the cross-platform runtime system (Adobe AIR, formerly Adobe Integrated Runtime). The scripted tool was recently extended to measure the impact of acoustic map elements on spatial memory performance (Lammert-Siepmann et al 2017).…”