Spatial Knowledge Acquisition Research Articles

Mixed reality-based coordinate system for enhancing survey knowledge acquisition: a study on allocentric and egocentric perspectives

ABSTRACT Spatial knowledge, especially survey knowledge, plays a pivotal role in people’s daily spatial tasks. However, the inherently limited visual perception and integration of spatial information often leads to inaccuracies in survey knowledge, with far-reaching consequences that affect performance, emotion, and safety in completing spatial tasks. In this study, we developed a mixed reality (MR)-based coordinate system and conducted a comparative user experiment involving 56 participants to explore whether perceiving metric and global spatial references during navigation may enhance the accuracy of user-acquired spatial knowledge. The experiment encompassed a spatial learning task where participants navigated and learned the selected indoor environment, followed by a desktop-based landmark recalling task to evaluate the accuracy of participants’ acquired survey knowledge. The results revealed the following insights: (1) the use of MR-based coordinate system significantly improved egocentric and allocentric spatial relations in participants’ survey knowledge; (2) participants’ errors in spatial relations among landmarks accumulate over distance, whereas the MR-based coordinate system helps maintain the errors at a consistent level; (3) no significant correlations were found between errors in participants’ survey knowledge and environmental familiarity, suggesting that the aiding effect of the MR-based coordinate system was independent of users’ prior knowledge of the environment; (4) participants reported increased mental demand using the MR-based coordinate system, but this did not result in diminished spatial learning performance or additional time pressure and learning efforts. These empirical results contribute to the future study of spatial knowledge acquisition and the design of spatial learning interfaces in mixed reality.

Spatial Behaviors and Mental Representations: Interactions of artistic and scientific perspectives

Contemporary artistic research has successively integrated preoccupations with the experimentation of space and mobility, as well as collective interactions between participants in situations of proximity or remoteness. In the scientific field, an important part of spatial cognition study has recently turned towards understanding the collective aspects of spatial cognition, integrating an understanding of the acquisition of spatial knowledge and studying cognitive maps, as well as research on navigation and individual and collective memorization. In both cases, spatial behaviors and mental representations are fundamental focuses. Using CORES research combining artistic and scientific perspectives as an example, we clarify specific differences within a framework common to the arts and sciences. This article will develop three points: 1) Artistic and scientific research contexts, 2) Interactions between artistic and scientific perspectives, 3) Proposal of a 7-step joint arts and sciences research cycle. In so doing, this study aims to counter the divide between the artistic and scientific fields by demonstrating a shared creative dynamic.

Exploring the Use of Landmarks to Aid Pedestrian Wayfinding

When wayfinding with mobile maps, the acquisition of spatial knowledge can be limited by relying on automated route instructions and the small map on the screen. Repeating a route without support from navigation aids may be challenging as the user has been focused on their mobile phone and not the surroundings. According to theories of spatial knowledge acquisition, landmarks are environmental elements important in the development of such knowledge. This study examines how different navigation aids impact spatial knowledge, with a particular focus on landmarks. Participants navigated a route using one of three aids: a booklet of sequential landmarks, a booklet of Google Maps screenshots, or a paper map. The landmarks were selected based on their conspicuity and strategic placement along the route. Thirty participants completed tasks assessing their spatial knowledge of the route and surrounding area after walking it. This study, divided into three phases, compared the effectiveness of each navigation aid, highlighting the effectiveness of landmarks in wayfinding. Results indicate that landmarks significantly enhance wayfinding, especially for pedestrians navigating short, pre-set routes without a map. This suggests that incorporating landmarks into mobile maps could improve on-screen spatial information.

Spatial knowledge acquisition in mobile map-assisted navigation: a real-world longitudinal study

Spatial knowledge acquisition in mobile map-assisted navigation: a real-world longitudinal study

Routes with roots: Pedestrian route choices and sense of place of an urban university community

Understanding how people choose routes in urban environments is essential for effective urban planning. While conventional transportation studies focus on utilitarian decision-making, this research investigates the complex interplay between human-environment interactions and emotional attachments to places, which influence transportation choices. Specifically, we examine the impact of sense of place in pedestrian route choice within a densely populated urban university community. Unlike typical urban settings characterized by clear roads and landmarks, university environments often feature intricate layouts with diffuse pathways, shared spaces, and a lack of clear spatial hierarchies. This complexity challenges conventional spatial knowledge acquisition methods. Individuals navigating such environments tend to rely on socio-sensory wayfinding strategies, developing emotional connections to specific places and routes over time. Consequently, route choices in these contexts may not always be deliberate but rather subconscious and nuanced. Our study focuses on elucidating the impact of the sense of place—a composite of conscious and subconscious perceptions, emotions, and attachments to a location—on daily route decisions. Through structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis, we demonstrate that the sense of place significantly influences route choices within community building complexes, surpassing utilitarian considerations as a primary explanatory factor. These findings underscore the importance of emotional and psychological factors in shaping urban route decisions, offering valuable insights for urban planning and management strategies.

Indoor navigation map design based on spatial complexity

ABSTRACT In the face of the complex interior structure of a building, indoor navigation is an important tool for people to arrive at their destination in large public buildings. In this research, we first analyze the complexity of indoor space, which mainly includes spatial entities with rich semantics, but corridors lacking in semantics, poor visibility, and multi-dimensional floors. Then, we designed various indoor navigation maps based on spatial complexity and conducted a comparative analysis between the existing maps and the ones we designed. Participants were recruited to perform three navigation tasks in the study area on-site. The results demonstrate the advantages of using a hierarchical landmark representation for improved spatial knowledge acquisition and the effectiveness of scene-enhanced directional guidance in areas with poor visibility. It is worth noting that the introduction of three-dimensional maps was found to have a positive impact on users’ spatial perception and their ability to sketch routes accurately. In summary, this evidence confirms that maps based on spatial complexity not only enhance navigation efficiency but also have the potential to improve the overall indoor navigation experience.

Towards Personally Relevant Navigation: The Differential Effects of Cognitive Style and Map Orientation on Spatial Knowledge Development

Under emergencies such as floods and fires or during indoor navigation where cues from local landmarks and a Global Positioning System (GPS) are no longer available, the acquisition of comprehensive environmental representation becomes particularly important. Several studies demonstrated that individual differences in cognitive style might play an important role in creating a complete environmental representation and spatial navigation. However, this relationship between cognitive style and spatial navigation is not well researched. This study hypothesized that a specific type of map orientation (north-up vs. forward-up) might be more efficient for individuals with different cognitive styles. Forty participants were recruited to perform spatial tasks in a virtual maze environment to understand how cognitive style may relate to spatial navigation abilities, particularly the acquisition of survey and route knowledge. To measure survey knowledge, pointing direction tests and sketch map tests were employed, whereas, for route knowledge, the landmark sequencing test and route retracing test were employed. The results showed that both field-dependent and field-independent participants showed more accurate canonical organization in their sketch map task with a north-up map than with a forward-up map, with field-independent participants outperforming field-dependent participants in canonical organization scores. The map orientation did not influence the performance of Field-Independent participants on the pointing direct test, with field-dependent participants showing higher angular error with north-up maps. Regarding route knowledge, field-independent participants had more accurate responses in the landmark sequencing tests with a north-up map than with a forward-up map. On the other hand, field-dependent participants had higher accuracy in landmark sequencing tests in the forward-up map condition than in the north-up map condition. In the route retracing test, however, the map orientation had no statistically significant effect on different cognitive style groups. The results indicate that cognitive style may affect the relationship between map orientation and spatial knowledge acquisition.

Enhancing wayfinding and route learning: a human-centred study of the route-defining locations algorithm

ABSTRACT Navigation services play a crucial role in everyday wayfinding. One of their key features is the turn-by-turn guidance, enabling wayfinders to navigate efficiently between locations. However, over-reliance on turn-by-turn guidance can hinder wayfinders' ability to perceive their surroundings and develop spatial awareness, negatively impacting user experience. Previous research has addressed these issues by modifying instructions, user interaction, or both. However, the applicability of these methods beyond specific studies remains unclear. This paper presents a human-centred study by evaluating an algorithm that automatically generates navigation instructions. The instructions are generated by adding route-defining locations to ‘standard’ turn-by-turn instructions to enhance wayfinder's spatial knowledge acquisition, and improve user experience. Route-defining locations, identified using a previously proposed algorithm, serve as anchors for the wayfinder to form a spatial understanding of the environment. The study involved 36 participants divided into two groups: one received ‘standard’ turn-by-turn (TBT) instructions, while the other received instructions that included route-defining locations (RDL). Participants navigated in an unfamiliar virtual environment, and their wayfinding and route learning were compared between the two groups. Results show that RDL instructions led to better wayfinding and route learning performance compared to TBT instructions, suggesting the potential to improve navigation systems and user experiences.

Children’s and young people’s cognizance of physical-symbolic reality: The production and acquisition of spatial knowledge

In this article, we address the central topic of the call for papers, childhood educates space, from the perspective of children’s and young people’s spatial knowledge. We argue that both childhood and youth educate as much as are educated by space. To shed light on this dynamic and complex interaction, we focus on the arenas and agencies at play within the production and acquisition of spatial knowledge. The term arena refers to the spatial conditions that delineate an area of activity related to the production and acquisition of spatial knowledge, and agency denotes the crucial means, agents, and tools that are instrumental in and buttress such area of activity. To render operative the analysis, we draw on two driving themes: (i) the gradual development of a comprehensive conception of space and (ii) its accompanying (and traversing) learning processes. Moreover, to substantiate the assertion that education between childhood and youth and space is mutually constitutive, we present a selection of findings from a qualitative meta-analysis conducted to reconstruct the evolution of young people’s spatial knowledge from the 1970s onwards. All in all, we claim that the process of production and acquisition of spatial knowledge forms the basis of, on the one hand, the keenness and depth of the perception that children and young people have of the physical world and, on the other, the ways they subjectively and symbolically characterize it.

The impact of spatial scale on layout learning and individual evacuation behavior in indoor fires: single-scale learning perspectives

The detail and representation of a spatial layout varies with scale. This affects an individual’s learning effectiveness and understanding, in turn directly influencing their behavior in a fire evacuation. However, the impact of layout learning methods with different spatial scales on fire evacuation behavior, and the relationship between spatial cognition and evacuation effects, remains unclear. We conducted spatial layout learning across three scales with 81 participants and simulated a fire evacuation scenario in a mobile virtual reality for groups. We collected evacuation decision-making and user experience questionnaires as supplementary data. The results demonstrate that small-scale learning objects are the easiest for participants to understand in terms of spatial layout and relationships, but their performance in fire evacuation is poor. Large-scale learning objects significantly improve participants’ evacuation efficiency. Spatial layout learning plays a crucial role in fire evacuation outcomes, but traditional spatial knowledge acquisition measurement methods cannot predict fire evacuation performance. This study sheds light on how spatial cognition influences fire evacuation behavior and provides a more reliable fire evacuation simulation method based on mobile virtual reality (MVR).

BeeAR: Augmented Reality Beeline Navigation for Spatial Knowledge Acquisition

Navigation assistance systems have become integral to our daily routines, helping us to find our way through unfamiliar environments. However, their use may come at a price, as empirical evidence suggests a potentially harmful impact of these systems on our spatial abilities, including the acquisition of spatial knowledge. This could be remedied by giving users more freedom and involving them in the decision-making process. Therefore, we present a navigation system that combines augmented reality and Beeline Navigation (BeeAR). Here, the location of the destination is overlaid with a digital landmark and permanently displayed to the user via a visual, translucent AR display (without a map). Since the digital content is integrated into the real world, no mapping between the device and reality is required, potentially lowering the workload. Making one's own decisions along the route is expected to increase engagement with the environment, leading to increased acquisition of spatial knowledge. We compare BeeAR with findings from a previous study comparing Free Choice Navigation (FCN) and Turn-by-Turn (TBT) navigation conducted along the same routes on the outskirts of Vienna, Austria. Although BeeAR and FCN do not provide users with a map, BeeAR users could better retrace the walked route and remembered more points of interest along the route than FCN users. Participants of all three navigation conditions achieved a high configuration similarity between drawn points of interest and their true locations, albeit only one navigation condition included a map.

Imagine & immerse yourself: Does visuospatial imagery moderate learning in virtual reality?

Findings on the effectiveness of learning in immersive virtual reality (IVR) are mixed. While studies suggest that the sense of spatial presence in IVR enhances enjoyment and thus learning, it is unclear whether IVR also presents information in a way that is more conducive to learning than less immersive presentations. Because IVR presents spatial details more accurately than less immersive media, in addition to motivational effects, IVR presentations should promote the acquisition of spatial and (aurally presented) semantic knowledge. Research also suggests that the effects of IVR presentation on spatial presence, enjoyment, and learning may be offset by visuospatial imagery skills. We tested these assumptions by conducting a randomized laboratory experiment with two conditions in which a virtual learning environment was presented using either IVR technology or less immersive desktop VR. Results show that IVR did not provide superior support the acquisition of spatial and semantic knowledge, and this was not moderated by visuospatial imagery. However, spatial presence mediated the acquisition of semantic knowledge through enjoyment in both conditions, and this effect was moderated by learners' level of imagery: IVR's advantages over desktop VR in promoting spatial presence, enjoyment, and semantic knowledge diminished as learners' visuospatial imagery increased.

Augmented reality landmarks on windshield and their effects on the acquisition of spatial knowledge in autonomous vehicles

ABSTRACT Autonomous vehicles, which free drivers from driving, are gaining increasing interest for future travel needs. But the degradation of driver’s spatial knowledge will likely worsen when drivers no longer need to actively steer nor pay attention to the environment. This study extends the theory of visualising distant landmarks on mobile phone to windshield using Augmented Reality (AR), to support spatial learning. This study investigates the impact of AR distant landmarks (with vs. without AR landmarks) and road conditions (highway vs. local road) on acquiring spatial knowledge through an experiment using simulated videos of autonomous driving. Participants are randomly assigned to one of two scenarios to complete tasks which assessed their acquired spatial knowledge one the route-, directional, and configural levels. Results show that distant landmarks enhance the efficiency of acquiring route- and directional knowledge, although the effectiveness of acquiring route knowledge with AR landmarks is not significant on local road. Configurational knowledge is more likely impacted by the road type instead of the AR landmarks. The results indciate the necessity of carrying out follow-up studies on symbolising additional information in AR landmarks for supporting spatial learning and evaluate their impacts on the spatial knowledge at the configurational level.

Active and passive exploration for spatial knowledge acquisition: A meta-analysis.

Literature reported mixed evidence on whether active exploration benefits spatial knowledge acquisition over passive exploration. Active spatial learning typically involves at least physical control of one's movement or navigation decision-making, while passive participants merely observe during exploration. To quantify the effects of active exploration in learning large-scale, unfamiliar environments, we analysed previous findings with the multi-level meta-analytical model. Potential moderators were identified and examined for their contributions to the variability in effect sizes. Of the 128 effect sizes retrieved from 33 experiments, we observed a small to moderate advantage of active exploration over passive observation. Important moderators include gender composition, decision-making, types of spatial knowledge, and matched visual information. We discussed the implications of the results along with the limitations.

Spatial Knowledge Acquisition for Pedestrian Navigation: A Comparative Study between Smartphones and AR Glasses

Smartphone map-based pedestrian navigation is known to have a negative effect on the long-term acquisition of spatial knowledge and memorisation of landmarks. Landmark-based navigation has been proposed as an approach that can overcome such limitations. In this work, we investigate how different interaction technologies, namely smartphones and augmented reality (AR) glasses, can affect the acquisition of spatial knowledge when used to support landmark-based pedestrian navigation. We conducted a study involving 20 participants, using smartphones or augmented reality glasses for pedestrian navigation. We studied the effects of these systems on landmark memorisation and spatial knowledge acquisition over a period of time. Our results show statistically significant differences in spatial knowledge acquisition between the two technologies, with the augmented reality glasses enabling better memorisation of landmarks and paths.

The time course of spatial knowledge acquisition for different digital navigation aids

Digital maps on personal devices (e.g., phones) are common tools used to aid navigation. Different types of digital maps can influence spatial knowledge acquisition, and this effect might depend on whether the user interacts with an forward-up or north-up map. In spatial cognition theory, these differences can be used to support either sequential or continuous theories of spatial knowledge acquisition. To test these hypotheses, we compared spatial learning of participants (N = 67) after navigation in a virtual city with either a forward-up map, a north-up map, or a guiding arrow (i.e., a control) as a navigation aid. Critically, participants were tested on landmark recognition tasks and judgments of relative direction (JRDs) after each of four navigation blocks. We also examined mental workload during map usage using eye tracking in terms of the distributions of fixations on the maps. The results indicated that, regardless of navigation aid, participants improved on both landmark recognition and JRD tasks over blocks of trials. In addition, we found an interaction between block and navigation aid. This interaction suggests that participants in the forward-up map group initially produced more JRD errors than the north-up map group but that the two groups performed similarly in later blocks as they became more familiar with the environment. These findings are consistent with the eye-tracking data, which suggested a decrease in mental workload as evidenced by an increase in fixation distributions over blocks of trials. Together, these results suggest that participants with any of these navigation aids perform similarly on some tasks (supporting sequential theory), although the time course of learning may differ between map types (supporting continuous theory).

Acquisition and retention of spatial knowledge through virtual reality experiences: Effects of VR setup and locomotion technique

The fidelity level of virtual reality (VR) setups can affect different aspects of virtual experiences, but its effects on knowledge acquisition and retention need clarification. The two studies in this paper focus on spatial knowledge. The first study compared three VR setups, one using a VR headset and two using a tablet, differing in display and interaction fidelity. Since the type of virtual environment (VE), and the locomotion technique employed to explore it, might affect spatial knowledge acquisition, we studied each setup in an indoor and an outdoor VE with two widely used locomotion techniques (teleport and steering). Results showed that setups offering higher display and interaction fidelity can improve acquisition of spatial knowledge in terms of distance estimations (with teleport in the indoor VE, and with steering in the outdoor VE) and object-to-object spatial relations (with steering in the outdoor VE), but not in terms of object locations. This can provide guidance about how to choose the appropriate combination of setup and locomotion technique based on the type of VE and the types of spatial knowledge to acquire. Moreover, sickness and usability results showed that VR headset was more usable than tablet, and suggest using teleport on VR headset and steering on tablet. Therefore, the second study focused on VR headset with teleport and tablet with steering, and extended the assessment of their effects to spatial knowledge retention after two weeks. Results showed that spatial knowledge decreased in both conditions, but the VR headset with teleport led to better acquisition and 2-weeks retention of distance estimations.

Evaluating Augmented Reality Landmark Cues and Frame of Reference Displays with Virtual Reality.

Daily travel usually demands navigation on foot across a variety of different application domains, including tasks like search and rescue or commuting. Head-mounted augmented reality (AR) displays provide a preview of future navigation systems on foot, but designing them is still an open problem. In this paper, we look at two choices that such AR systems can make for navigation: 1) whether to denote landmarks with AR cues and 2) how to convey navigation instructions. Specifically, instructions can be given via a head-referenced display (screen-fixed frame of reference) or by giving directions fixed to global positions in the world (world-fixed frame of reference). Given limitations with the tracking stability, field of view, and brightness of most currently available head-mounted AR displays for lengthy routes outdoors, we decided to simulate these conditions in virtual reality. In the current study, participants navigated an urban virtual environment and their spatial knowledge acquisition was assessed. We experimented with whether or not landmarks in the environment were cued, as well as how navigation instructions were displayed (i.e., via screen-fixed or world-fixed directions). We found that the world-fixed frame of reference resulted in better spatial learning when there were no landmarks cued; adding AR landmark cues marginally improved spatial learning in the screen-fixed condition. These benefits in learning were also correlated with participants' reported sense of direction. Our findings have implications for the design of future cognition-driven navigation systems.

Improved Spatial Knowledge Acquisition through Sensory Augmentation.

Sensory augmentation provides novel opportunities to broaden our knowledge of human perception through external sensors that record and transmit information beyond natural perception. To assess whether such augmented senses affect the acquisition of spatial knowledge during navigation, we trained a group of 27 participants for six weeks with an augmented sense for cardinal directions called the feelSpace belt. Then, we recruited a control group that did not receive the augmented sense and the corresponding training. All 53 participants first explored the Westbrook virtual reality environment for two and a half hours spread over five sessions before assessing their spatial knowledge in four immersive virtual reality tasks measuring cardinal, route, and survey knowledge. We found that the belt group acquired significantly more accurate cardinal and survey knowledge, which was measured in pointing accuracy, distance, and rotation estimates. Interestingly, the augmented sense also positively affected route knowledge, although to a lesser degree. Finally, the belt group reported a significant increase in the use of spatial strategies after training, while the groups' ratings were comparable at baseline. The results suggest that six weeks of training with the feelSpace belt led to improved survey and route knowledge acquisition. Moreover, the findings of our study could inform the development of assistive technologies for individuals with visual or navigational impairments, which may lead to enhanced navigation skills and quality of life.

Men's and women's egocentric and allocentric knowledge: The involvement of mental rotation ability and spatial beliefs.

Individual factors can play a relevant role in explaining gender differences in environmental learning in terms of visuospatial abilities and beliefs about spatial abilities, such as stereotypes and growth mindset about navigation ability. In this study, we aim to investigate how mental rotation ability and spatial beliefs interact in the acquisition of egocentric and allocentric spatial knowledge. A sample of 244 participants (140 women) completed individual difference measures, including a mental rotation test (MRT) and questionnaires on gender stereotypes and growth mindsets about navigation ability. Participants then learned a specific route in a virtual environment and performed an egocentric pointing task and an allocentric pointing task. Men performed better in mental rotation and egocentric pointing tasks. Moreover, mental rotation ability predicted both egocentric and allocentric pointing performance; growth mindset predicted allocentric pointing. In general, these results suggest that, despite gender differences in some spatial measures, cognitive abilities and beliefs contribute to supporting environmental knowledge in both men and women.