Wayfinding Through Orientation (WayTO): Support for Spatial Orientation and Wayfinding in Real Environments Through Cognitively Appropriate Spatial Information Provided by Mobile Navigation Assistance
Final Report Abstract
The Wayfinding Through Orientation (WayTO) project investigated a new paradigm of assisted wayfinding that supports spatial orientation in a large-scale environment while moving through it following route instructions. The project was motivated by the prevalent use of computer-based navigation assistance that foreground route instructions at the expense of orientation information, impeding spatial learning. Two researchers with their groups (Geoinformatik, Münster: conceptual work for deriving principles for visualizations, empirical studies, algorithms, and prototyping; Bildungspsychologie, Mannheim: empirical investigations in spatial learning and wayfinding depending on visualization features) worked together in inter-disciplinary collaboration. A main assumption of the Wayfinding Through Orientation (WayTO) project was that human direction givers (in contrast to computer-based navigation assistance) tend to include orientation (survey) information in their wayfinding instructions. This assumption was confirmed. Particularly for complex routes conveyed through a visual sketch, human instructors spontaneously embedded route instructions in larger environmental structures, utilizing environmental features such as higherlevel elements (regions, districts, the “city center”, vague places) as part of the route description. These elements were not chosen randomly. The project developed an innovative approach to assess sketches that contain both route information and survey information with respect to two dimensions, rather than classifying a sketch into only one of several categories. This approach appeared to be valid and sketches can be reliably assessed with the rating scheme. Based on these insights, the project pursued two main goals: The first goal was to develop design principles and concepts for visualizations (visualization features) for conveying orientation information in assisted navigation. The second goal was to test empirically whether those visualization features can actually contribute to better spatial learning about the environment during assisted navigation. For the first goal, visualization features were developed that can be utilized to convey orientation information in addition to precise turn-by-turn route instructions. Those visualization features concern the possibility to show relational information between the current position and heading and important but unseen target locations even if these locations are “off-screen” (i.e., outside the visible zoom range), the schematization of a map-based visualization of the environment and the comprehensiveness and stability of the shown configuration by variations of zoom level and rotation (user-aligned vs. north-up). Moreover, orientation instructions were developed. Those instructions do not only add orientation information but re-structure and partially replace the conventional turnby-turn instructions, for instance, by reference to structural and regional features and referring to different levels of the cognitive hierarchy (e.g. “heading is now in the direction of the city center, “drive through the park”). An empirical study on learning the presented instructions demonstrated that those “global” features included in the orientation instructions can well be remembered, and more landmarks were learned compared to conventional turn-by-turn instructions or simply “chunked” route instructions that do not refer to global features. For the second goal, it was experimentally investigated whether particular visual features can improve the acquisition of survey knowledge for orientation while securing successful routefollowing. In previous studies, a trade-off was found, i.e., apparently, learning and route-following stand in conflict. A visualization that showed main target locations at the edge of a small, rotating (“user-aligned”) screen during navigation – thereby providing continuously updated directional information to the targets from the current position and heading in the environment – supported both route-following and learning of those directions, although the information was not comprehensive, not correct with respect to distance and it was “egocentric” (view-dependent, self-to-object) rather than “allocentric” (object-to-object). Thus, the acquisition of a “cognitive map” was not supported. However, these directional relations between self-locations and target locations are an important and useful way to store spatial information and can be identified with “orientation”. Therefore, it has been demonstrated that, in contrast to previous studies, both goals of wayfinding (route-following and spatial orientation) can be pursued and supported through visual features in assisted navigation at the same time. The applicants have been contacted several times for interviews in television, radio and newspapers with regard to navigation-related topics, including (impeded) spatial learning with assisted navigation and sense of direction, as well as particularly for the WayTO concept, demonstrating the relevance of the work.
Publications
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(2015): Map-off the city: How uncertain places are represented in sketch maps. AGILE international Conference. Lisbon, Portugal. (Best Poster Award)
Anacta, VJ; Humayun MI; Schwering, A
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(2016). Validation of a 3-factor structure of spatial strategies and relations to possession and usage of navigational aids. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 47, pp. 66-78
Münzer, S., Fehringer, B.C.O.F., & Kühl, T.
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(2016): Visualizing salient features in spatial descriptions. European Workshop on Image and Cognition, (EWIC). Paris, France
Anacta, VJ; Humayun MI; Schwering, A; Krukar, J
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(2017) Investigating Representations of Places with Unclear Spatial Extent in Sketch Maps. In: Bregt A., Sarjakoski T., van Lammeren R., Rip F. (eds) Societal Geo-innovation. AGILE 2017. Lecture Notes in Geoinformation and Cartography. Springer, pp. 3-17
Anacta V.J.A., Humayun M.I., Schwering A., Krukar J
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(2017). Reaching your destination vs. knowing your way. First steps towards navigation devices that foster spatial learning. Poster auf der gemeinsamen Tagung der Fachgruppen Entwicklungspsychologie und Pädagogische Psychologie 2017, Münster, Deutschland
Lörch, L.
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(2017): Orientation information in wayfinding instructions: evidences from human verbal and visual instructions. GeoJournal 82: pp 567–583
Anacta, VJ; Schwering, A; Li, R; Münzer, S
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(2017): Wayfinding Through Orientation. Spatial Cognition and Computation. An Interdisciplinary Journal. Volume 17:4, pp. 273-303
Schwering, A; Krukar, J; Li, R; Anacta, VJ; Fuest, S
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Special issue on Landmark-Based Navigation in Cognitive Systems. Künstliche Intelligenz (2017) 31:2. pp. 117-222
Krukar, J., Schwering, A. & Anacta, V.J.
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(2018). Acquisition of Survey Knowledge While Wayfinding With Navigation Assistance. DGPs Kongress, 17.9. - 20.9.2018, Frankfurt a. M.
Lörch, L.
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(2018). Distinguishing sketch map types: A flexible feature-based classification. In: Creem-Regehr, S.; Schöning, J.; Klippel, A. (eds) 11th International Conference, Spatial Cognition 2018, LNAI 11034, pp. 279–292
Krukar, J., Münzer, S., Lörch, L., Anacta, V. .J. A., Fuest, S., & Schwering, A.
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(2018). Wayfinding and spatial learning with navigation assistance. Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (CogSci), Madison, WI, USA
Münzer, S., Lörch, L., Schwering, A., Krukar, J., & Anacta, V. J.
