Verbal Route Directions Research Articles

Pointing the way forward: Gesture and adults' recall of route direction information.

Spatial communication tasks, such as following route directions through unfamiliar environments, place considerable demands on multiple cognitive processes, including language comprehension and memory. Gestures accompanying spoken route directions may aide task performance by enhancing cognitive processes such as language and memory processing. It is not yet clear whether different kinds of gesture might influence the processing of route information in different ways. In 2 experiments, we examined how different gestures would enhance or reduce listeners' recall of spatial information when given route directions through an unfamiliar building. Adults were randomly allocated to one of three gesture conditions: no gesture (speech only), beat gesture (speech accompanied by simple rhythmic gestures), or iconic-deictic gesture (speech accompanied by iconic and deictic gestures). Recall was measured verbally, by recalling the route aloud, then physically, by walking the route. In Experiment 1, redundant gestures that mirrored verbal route directions did not enhance listeners' verbal recall or route navigation. In Experiment 2, when the verbal route directions were edited to be incomplete, nonredundant gestures enhanced recall to the level seen when hearing all information through speech. These findings suggest that gestures enhance recall when compensating for missing verbal information, but not when they replicate verbal information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Getting to the elephants: Gesture and preschoolers’ comprehension of route direction information

During early childhood, children find spatial tasks such as following novel route directions challenging. Spatial tasks place demands on multiple cognitive processes, including language comprehension and memory, at a time in development when resources are limited. As such, gestures accompanying route directions may aid comprehension and facilitate task performance by scaffolding cognitive processes, including language and memory processing. This study examined the effect of presenting gesture during encoding on spatial task performance during early childhood. Three- to five-year-olds were presented with verbal route directions through a zoo-themed spatial array and, depending on assigned condition (no gesture, beat gesture, or iconic/deictic gesture), accompanying gestures. Children presented with verbal route directions accompanied by a combination of iconic (pantomime) and deictic (pointing) gestures verbally recalled more than children presented with beat gestures (rhythmic hand movements) or no gestures accompanying the route directions. The presence of gesture accompanying route directions similarly influenced physical route navigation, such that children presented with gesture (beat, pantomime, and pointing) navigated the route more accurately than children presented with no gestures. Across all gesture conditions, location information (e.g., the penguin pond) was recalled more than movement information (e.g., go around) and descriptive information (e.g., bright red). These findings suggest that speakers’ gestures accompanying spatial task information influence listeners’ recall and task performance.

Presentation and production: The role of gesture in spatial communication

During social interaction, verbal language as well as nonverbal behavior is exchanged between speakers and listeners. One social task that often involves nonverbal behavior is the relaying of spatial direction information. The questions addressed in this study were whether presenting gesture during encoding (a) enhanced corresponding spatial task performance and (b) elicited gesture production at recall for adults and children. Children (3–4years) and adults were presented with verbal route directions through a small-scale spatial array and, depending on the assigned condition (i.e., no gestures, beat gestures, or representational gestures), the accompanying gestures. Children, but not adults, benefited from the presence of gesture during encoding of the spatial route direction task, as measured by recall at test. Results suggest that the presence of gesture during encoding plays an integral part of effectively communicating spatial route direction information, particularly for children.

Lists, Spatial Practice and Assistive Technologies for the Blind

Lists, Spatial Practice and Assistive Technologies for the Blind

Toward Blind Travel Support through Verbal Route Directions: A Path Inference Algorithm for Inferring New Route Descriptions from Existing Route Descriptions

The work presented in this article continues our investigation of such assisted navigation solutions where the main emphasis is placed not on sensor sets or sensor fusion algorithms but on the ability of the travelers to interpret and contextualize verbal route directions en route. This work contributes to our investigation of the research hypothesis that we have formulated and partially validated in our previous studies: if a route is verbally described in sufficient and appropriate amount of detail, independent VI travelers can use their O&M and problem solving skills to successfully follow the route without any wearable sensors or sensors embedded in the environment. In this investigation, we temporarily put aside the issue of how VI and blind travelers successfully interpret route directions en route and tackle the question of how those route directions can be created, generated, and maintained by online communities. In particular, we focus on the automation of path inference and present an algorithm that may be used as part of the background computation of VGI sites to find new paths in the previous route directions written by online community members, generate new route descriptions from them, and post them for subsequent community editing.

Evaluation of emergency egress information for persons who are blind

Emergency procedures vary according to the type and extent of emergency, size of building, occupancy and type of building construction. There is no agreement on how emergency egress information should be provided for persons who are blind. This research investigated the efficacy of a Braille (Brl) sign, a Raised Print (RP) sign, a Tactile Map (TM), an audible route description activated by a pushbutton and exit signs equipped with Remote Infrared Audible Signage (RIAS) for enabling persons who are blind to travel routes to exits. The efficacy of each format in terms of time to acquire route information and time to travel a route was measured. Blind travellers' perceived needs and desires for obtaining emergency egress information were also investigated. Both RIAS and pushbutton-activated verbal route directions enabled participants to access and use emergency egress information efficiently. Auditory information was preferred above tactile information. Of the tactile formats, Brl resulted in more efficient access to egress information than RP and TMs and was preferred. This research is a first step in addressing the complex issues involved in providing emergency egress information to persons who are blind.

ShopTalk: Independent Blind Shopping Through Verbal Route Directions and Barcode Scans

Independent shopping in modern grocery stores that carry thousands of products is a great challenge for people with visual impairments. ShopTalk is a proof-of-concept wearable system designed to assist visually impaired shoppers with finding shelved products in grocery stores. Using synthetic verbal route directions and descriptions of the store lay- out, ShopTalk leverages the everyday orientation and mobility skills of independent visually impaired travelers to direct them to aisles with target products. Inside aisles, an off-the-shelf barcode scanner is used in conjunction with a software data structure, called a barcode connectivity matrix, to locate target product on shelves. Two experiments were performed at a real world supermarket. A successful earlier single-subject experiment is summarized and a new experiment involving ten visually impaired participants is presented. In both experiments, ShopTalk was successfully used to guide visually im- paired shoppers to multiple products located in aisles on shelves. ShopTalk is a feasible system for guiding visually im- paired shoppers who are skilled, independent travelers. Its design does not require any hardware instrumentation of the store and leads to low installation and maintenance costs.

Wayfinding choremes—a language for modeling conceptual route knowledge

The emergent interest in ontological and conceptual approaches to modeling route information results from new information technologies as well as from a multidisciplinary interest in spatial cognition. Linguistics investigates verbal route directions; cartography carries out research on route maps and on the information needs of map users; and computer science develops formal representations of routes with the aim to build new wayfinding applications. In concert with geomatics, ontologies of spatial domain knowledge are assembled while sensing technologies for location-aware wayfinding aids are developed simultaneously (e.g. cell phones, GPS-enabled devices or PDAs). These joint multidisciplinary efforts have enhanced cognitive approaches for route directions. In this article, we propose an interdisciplinary approach to modeling route information, the wayfinding choreme theory. Wayfinding choremes are mental conceptualizations of functional wayfinding and route direction elements. With the wayfinding choreme theory, we propose a formal treatment of (mental) conceptual route knowledge that is based on qualitative calculi and refined by behavioral experimental research. This contribution has three parts: First, we introduce the theory of wayfinding choremes. Second, we present term rewriting rules that are grounded in cognitive principles and can tailor route directions to different user requirements. Third, we exemplify various application scenarios for our approach.

Gestures Accompanying Verbal Route Directions: Do They Point to a New Avenue for Examining Spatial Representations?

Spontaneous gestures during university students' verbal route directions to four campus locations were examined to address questions concerning the relative frequency, types, and relative timing of such responses. Results indicated that individuals who gestured more frequently tended to speak more rapidly than did those who gestured less frequently. Deictic gestures, which map directly onto environmental circumstances, were more frequent than either iconic gestures or beats, with metaphoric gestures being rare. Gross gesture-speech asynchrony was common with deictic gestures accompanying directional terms (especially right and left) but not with beats accompanying such terms.