Navigation in smart environments using mediated reality tools

Abstract

Topographical Disorientation (TD) is the lack or loss of orientation and navigation abilities. People living with TD face functional challenges in everyday situations. Smart mediated reality environments present potential solutions for cognitive conditions like TD. In this article, we introduce a novel mediated reality location aware environment. It was hypothesized that tools which offer different positional information affect the navigation performance of a user. The objective of this study was to investigate preferred assistive tools for indoor navigation for use in a proposed mediated reality wayfinding system. These tools may eventually be used to assist patients with TD. To this purpose, we designed a novel wayfinding metric that can be used in the assessment of navigation tasks similar to a scavenger hunt. This novel metric is based on a relative energy expenditure ratio and is independent of navigation route complexity. We investigated four sets of tools (minimap, locator, coordinate display and routing compass) that can be used in a smart mediated reality environment to provide relevant wayfinding information. These tools were designed using different combinations of spatial knowledge (landmark, route or survey), graphical presentation (compass, text, icon, top/side view) and reference frames (egocentric or allocentric). Each tool was evaluated objectively and subjectively. The locator and minimap tools emerged as preferred interfaces, providing the most relevant wayfinding information while minimizing energy expenditure during navigation tasks.