Environmental information for people with visual impairment in Mexico - or what they need and how they use it

Improving wayfinding in hospitals for people with diverse needs and abilities: An exploratory approach based on multi-criteria decision making

Hospital wayfinding systems that are based solely on signage do not provide adequate solutions for wayfinding needs, especially for users with impairments. Moreover, the interaction between user characteristics and the inner space of the building also determines wayfinding efficiency. The aims of this study, therefore, were to identify architectural features that affect spatial orientation and wayfinding behaviors; demonstrate the implementation of a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approach for improving wayfinding in a diverse range of users; and produce a set of quantitative values (i.e., weights) for each selected architectural feature, based on the individual's preferences. Doing so could enable the formulating of practical design guidelines for hospital buildings, tailored to the needs and abilities of the users, to minimize disorientation and confusion - as demonstrated in this paper through a case study. The MCDM approach was chosen as it is based on observations whereby wayfinding resembles a continuous decision-making process, throughout which, users continuously select those architectural features that they perceive as having the greatest wayfinding value.

The effect of verbal instructions while using digital indoor wayfinding devices on gender, performance, and self-reported strategies

Studies indicate that verbal instructions may impact associations between gender and wayfinding performance (measured via relative direction pointing accuracy and walking pace). Following the increasing use of digital navigation applications in indoor environments, and their implications on acquiring and processing spatial information, the aim of this study is to evaluate the stability of previously established associations. The study included 34 participants (16 females) aged 24-34 and was conducted in an indoor hospital setting. In addition to using a navigation application, one of three types of verbal instructions (route, survey, or none) were given in each wayfinding scenario. Self-reported wayfinding strategies were also assessed. The findings indicate that male participants made fewer pointing accuracy errors and walked faster than females, regardless of the type of instructions given, implying that the impact of naturally employed wayfinding strategies by gender (route for females; survey for males) on wayfinding performance may be more dominant than that of navigational devices. In addition, when males and females were exposed to their unnatural wayfinding strategy, no significant differences were seen in either group's self-reported wayfinding strategies. These findings may suggest that applying survey knowledge to females may improve their indoor wayfinding.

A bibliometric analysis of published literature on healthcare facilities' wayfinding research from 1974 to 2020

Objectives

Wayfinding in complex environments is a public issue facing the world and has become a hot research topic in recent years. This article reviews and quantitatively analyzes the literature on wayfinding in healthcare facilities and collates the research trends and hotspots in this area.

Methods

The article used bibliometric analysis to search keywords in the Scopus database in the TITLE-ABS-KEY format. In total, 2359 articles were finally collated between 1974 and 2020 after three screening exercises, and a co-citation analysis was conducted by VOSviewer literature visualization analysis software.

Results

Research in the worldwide literature on wayfinding in healthcare facilities has grown steadily year on year since 2002. Computer science (21.5%) and social science (15.5%) are the most common subject categories, with the United States (N = 767) accounting for the largest proportion of research. “Lecture Notes In Computer Science Including Subseries Lecture Notes In Artificial Intelligence And Lecture Notes In Bioinformatics” is the most active journal in terms of publications (N = 169).

Conclusion

Wayfinding cognition, wayfinding behavior, and individual and group differences are currently the focus of research in the field of healthcare facilities. Future research on wayfinding in healthcare facilities will further investigate intelligent assistive technologies and universal designs such as universal signage systems. In addition, cross-cultural-based wayfinding research is a hot topic for future studies where the boundaries of research are broadened and have practical value.