Landmarks in wayfinding: a review of the existing literature

Abstract

Landmarks are accepted as one of the vital elements in both virtual and real environments during wayfinding tasks. This paper provides an overview of the existing literature on the selection of landmarks in wayfinding mostly in large-scale urban environments and outdoors by discussing two main aspects of landmarks: visibility and salience. Environments and layouts used in previous studies, different tasks given to people and the main findings are explained and compared. Summary tables are created from these findings. The review concludes that there is mostly a consensus on the selection of landmarks, when considering their location. Accordingly, landmarks on route and also at decision points (with a turn) are more effective during wayfinding tasks. However, visibility of landmarks as well as visual and cognitive saliency need to be further investigated using different environments, tasks or different levels of familiarity with environments.

Seamless Wayfinding by a Deafblind Adult on an Urban College Campus: A Case Study on Wayfinding Performance, Information Preferences, and Technology Requirements

“…A striking example in our case study that speaks to the highly idiosyncratic role that landmarks play in human wayfinding is that of a tree that was identified as a landmark indicating a turn on Route C. In this context, the participant pointed out that he failed to perceive the tree since he was not able to feel the tree's shade, as he was expecting (Quote 4). Remarkable about this is that the expectation of the participant towards the tree defies simple conceptualization of landmarks and showcases a scenario in which the saliency of the tree as a landmark is both cognitive and structural (Sorrows and Hirtle, 1999;Klippel and Winter 2005;Yesiltepe et al, 2021), in that it is informed by the cognitive expectation of the participant and the structural elements of the tree interacting with the Sun. Here, again, a complex digital representation of the tree in conjunction with a model of the Sun would be required to capture and instrumentalize such complex expression of saliency within computational solutions to pedestrian routing.…”

Hospital Greenspaces and the Impacts on Wayfinding and Spatial Experience: An Explorative Experiment Through Immersive Virtual Environment (IVE) Techniques

“…The cognitive representation of hospital greenspaces, and how people code, transfer, store, and recall the external information to aid the wayfinding process in the healthcare environmental context, should also be further explored. Compared with the color coding and theme decorations that could be subtle clues on the floor map, gardens as salient landmarks could help people quickly understand the spatial arrangement when interacting with the healthcare space, thereby improving the wayfinding efficiency (Yesiltepe et al, 2021).…”

The effect of sound environment on spatial knowledge acquisition in a virtual outpatient polyclinic

“…They are considered as spatial aids used for spatial information and are among the most prominent environmental features used during wayfinding (Darken & Sibert, 1996;Elvins et al, 2001;Parush & Berman, 2004;Siegel & White, 1975;Tversky et al, 1994). Although landmarks' importance has been widely discussed, only a small portion of the literature have analyzed specific features of landmarks and their attribution to the acquisition of spatial knowledge (Steck & Mallot, 2000;Yesiltepe et al, 2021).…”