Influence of Geometry and Objects on Local Route Choices during Wayfinding

Frankenstein, Julia; Büchner, Simon J.; Tenbrink, Thora; Hölscher, Christoph

doi:10.1007/978-3-642-14749-4_7

Cited by 34 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…In real world wayfinding, both geometric structure features and object and landmark features interact to inform spatial decision making. Recently, Frankenstein, Büchner, Tenbrink, and Hölscher (2010) demonstrated the impact of sematically rich landmarks alongside geometric information. Current research in our labs adresses how well the current results generalize to visual attention in more complex natural scenes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gaze behaviour during space perception and spatial decision making

Wiener

Hölscher

Büchner

et al. 2011

Psychological Research

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A series of four experiments investigating gaze behavior and decision making in the context of wayfinding is reported. Participants were presented with screen-shots of choice points taken in large virtual environments. Each screen-shot depicted alternative path options. In Experiment 1, participants had to decide between them in order to find an object hidden in the environment. In Experiment 2, participants were first informed about which path option to take as if following a guided route. Subsequently they were presented with the same images in random order and had to indicate which path option they chose during initial exposure. In Experiment 1, we demonstrate (1) that participants have a tendency to choose the path option that featured the longer line of sight, and (2) a robust gaze bias towards the eventually chosen path option. In Experiment 2, systematic differences in gaze behavior towards the alternative path options between encoding and decoding were observed. Based on data from Experiments 1 & 2 and two control experiments ensuring that fixation patterns were specific to the spatial tasks, we develop a tentative model of gaze behavior during wayfinding decision making suggesting that particular attention was paid to image areas depicting changes in the local geometry of the environments such as corners, openings, and occlusions. Together, the results suggest that gaze during a wayfinding tasks is directed toward, and can be predicted by, a subset of environmental features and that gaze bias effects are a general phenomenon of visual decision making.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gaze behaviour during space perception and spatial decision making

Wiener

Hölscher

Büchner

et al. 2011

Psychological Research

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“…These are a result of their experiences with the elements of a built environment and its communication mechanisms (Frankenstein, Buchner, Tenbrink, & Hö lscher, 2010). Lynch (1960) classified the elements of the built environment as paths, edges, districts, nodes and landmarks.…”

Section: Environmental Factors In Wayfindingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wayfinding: A simple concept, a complex process

et al. 2012

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Wayfinding is the process of finding your way to a destination in a familiar or unfamiliar setting using any cues given by the environment. Due to its ubiquity in everyday life, wayfinding appears on the surface to be a simply characterized and understood process; however, this very ubiquity and the resulting need to refine and optimize wayfinding has led to a great number of studies that have revealed that it is in fact a deeply complex exercise. In this article, we examine the motivations for investigating wayfinding, with particular attention being paid to the unique challenges faced in transportation hubs, and discuss the associated principles and factors involved as they have been perceived from different research perspectives. We also review the approaches used to date in the modelling of wayfinding in various contexts. We attempt to draw together the different perspectives applied to wayfinding and postulate the importance of wayfinding and the need to understand this seemingly simple, but concurrently complex, process.

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“…Within the spatial domain, extant research has suggested that heuristics account for a wide range of navigation behavior when people select and follow routes through unfamiliar environments. For instance, navigators tend to select routes that: (a) have fewer turns and landmarks moving toward a destination (Sadalla & Staplin, 1980;Senevirante & Morrall, 1986), (b) deviate minimally from the overall direction of a destination (Dalton, 2003;Hochmair & Frank, 2000), (c) are relatively long and straight as they leave an origin (Bailenson, Shum, & Uttal, 1998, d) use environmental clues (e.g., architectural details) to make inferences about indoor locations (Frankenstein, Büchner, Tenbrink, & Hölscher, 2010) and (e) move generally southward rather than northward (Brunyé, Andonova, Meneghetti, Noordzij, Pazzaglia, Wienemann, Mahoney, & Taylor, 2012;Brunyé, Mahoney, Gardony, & Taylor, 2010). This research suggests that individuals might adopt reliance on one or more specific strategies when faced with spatial uncertainty; applying heuristics when faced with problems might reflect efforts toward cognitive economy and simplification (Gray, Sims, Fu, & Schoelles, 2006).…”

Section: Spatial Decision Making Under Uncertaintymentioning

confidence: 99%

Where did it come from, where do you go? Direction sources influence navigation decisions during spatial uncertainty

Brunyé

Gagnon

Gardony

et al. 2015

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology

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Previous research on route directions largely considers the case when a knowledgeable route-giver conveys accurate information. In the real world, however, route information is sometimes inaccurate, and directions can lead navigators astray. We explored how participants respond to route directions containing ambiguities between landmarks and turn directions, forcing reliance on one or the other. In three experiments, participants read route directions (e.g., To get to the metro station, take a right at the pharmacy) and then selected from destinations on a map. Critically, in half of the trials the landmark (pharmacy) and turn (right) directions were conflicting, such that the participant had to make a decision under conditions of uncertainty; under these conditions, we measured whether participants preferentially relied upon landmark- versus direction-based strategies. Across the three experiments, participants were either provided no information regarding the source of directions (Experiment 1), or told that the source of directions was a GPS device (Experiment 2), or a human (Experiment 3). Without information regarding the source of directions, participants generally relied on landmarks or turn information under conditions of ambiguity; in contrast, with a GPS source participants relied primarily on turn information, and with a human source on landmark information. Results were robust across gender and individual differences in spatial preference. We discuss these results within the context of spatial decision-making theory and consider implications for the design and development of landmark-inclusive navigation systems.

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Influence of Geometry and Objects on Local Route Choices during Wayfinding

Cited by 34 publications

References 13 publications

Gaze behaviour during space perception and spatial decision making

Gaze behaviour during space perception and spatial decision making

Wayfinding: A simple concept, a complex process

Where did it come from, where do you go? Direction sources influence navigation decisions during spatial uncertainty

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