How Navigational Aids Impair Spatial Memory: Evidence for Divided Attention

Classification of Internal and External Distractions in an Educational VR Environment Using Multimodal Features

Virtual reality (VR) can potentially enhance student engagement and memory retention in the classroom. However, distraction among participants in a VR-based classroom is a significant concern. Several factors, including mind wandering, external noise, stress, etc., can cause students to become internally and/or externally distracted while learning. To detect distractions, single or multi-modal features can be used. A single modality is found to be insufficient to detect both internal and external distractions, mainly because of individual variability. In this work, we investigated multi-modal features: eye tracking and EEG data, to classify the internal and external distractions in an educational VR environment. We set up our educational VR environment and equipped it for multi-modal data collection. We implemented different machine learning (ML) methods, including k-nearest-neighbors (kNN), Random Forest (RF), one-dimensional convolutional neural network - long short-term memory (1 D-CNN-LSTM), and two-dimensional convolutional neural networks (2D-CNN) to classify participants' internal and external distraction states using the multi-modal features. We performed cross-subject, cross-session, and gender-based grouping tests to evaluate our models. We found that the RF classifier achieves the highest accuracy over 83% in the cross-subject test, around 68% to 78% in the cross-session test, and around 90% in the gender-based grouping test compared to other models. SHAP analysis of the extracted features illustrated greater contributions from the occipital and prefrontal regions of the brain, as well as gaze angle, gaze origin, and head rotation features from the eye tracking data.

How Do In-Car Navigation Aids Impair Expert Navigators' Spatial Learning Ability?

Reliance on digital navigation aids has already shown negative impacts on navigators' innate spatial abilities. How this happens is still an open research question. We report on an empirical study with twenty-four experienced (male) taxi drivers to evaluate the long-term impacts of in-car navigation system use on the spatial learning ability of these navigation experts. Specifically, we measured cognitive load by means of electroencephalography (EEG) coupled with eye tracking to assess their visuospatial attention allocation during a video-based route-following task while driving through an unknown urban environment. We found that long-term reliance on in-car navigation aids did not affect participants' visual attention allocation during spatial learning but rather limited their ability to encode viewed geographic information into memory, which, in turn, led to greater cognitive load, especially along route segments between intersections. Participants with greater dependence on in-car navigation aids performed worse on the spatial knowledge tests. Our combined behavioral and neuropsychological findings provide evidence for the impairment of expert navigators' spatial learning ability when exposed to long-term use of digital in-car navigation aids.

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.

Hippocampal Signal Complexity and Rate-of-Change Predict Navigational Performance: Evidence from a Two-Week VR Training Program

The hippocampus is believed to be an important region for spatial navigation, helping to represent the environment and plan routes. Evidence from rodents has suggested that the hippocampus processes information in a graded manner along its long-axis, with anterior regions encoding coarse information and posterior regions encoding fine-grained information. Brunec et al. (2018) demonstrated similar patterns in humans in a navigation paradigm, showing that the anterior-posterior gradient in representational granularity and the rate of signal change exist in the human hippocampus. However, the stability of these signals and their relationship to navigational performance remain unclear. In this study, we conducted a two-week training program where participants learned to navigate through a novel city environment. We investigated inter-voxel similarity (IVS) and temporal auto-correlation hippocampal signals, measures of representational granularity and signal change, respectively. Specifically, we investigated how these signals were influenced by navigational ability (i.e., stronger vs. weaker spatial learners), training session, and navigational dynamics. Our results revealed that stronger learners exhibited a clear anterior-posterior distinction in IVS in the right hippocampus, while weaker learners showed less pronounced distinctions. Additionally, lower general IVS levels in the hippocampus were linked to better early learning. Successful navigation was characterized by faster signal change, particularly in the anterior hippocampus, whereas failed navigation lacked the anterior-posterior distinction in signal change. These findings suggest that signal complexity and signal change in the hippocampus are important factors for successful navigation, with IVS representing information organization and auto-correlation reflecting moment-to-moment updating. These findings support the idea that efficient organization of scales of representation in an environment may be necessary for efficient navigation itself. Understanding the dynamics of these neural signals provides insights into the mechanisms underlying navigational learning in humans.

How is GPS used? Understanding navigation system use and its relation to spatial ability

Given how commonly GPS is now used in everyday navigation, it is surprising how little research has been dedicated to investigating variations in its use and how such variations may relate to navigation ability. The present study investigated general GPS dependence, how people report using GPS in various navigational scenarios, and the relationship between these measures and spatial abilities (assessed by self-report measures and the ability to learn the layout of a novel environment). GPS dependence is an individual's perceived need to use GPS in navigation, and GPS usage is the frequency with which they report using different functions of GPS. The study also assessed whether people modulate reported use of GPS as a function of their familiarity with the location in which they are navigating. In 249 participants over two preregistered studies, reported GPS dependence was negatively correlated with objective navigation performance and self-reported sense of direction, and positively correlated with spatial anxiety. Greater reported use of GPS for turn-by-turn directions was associated with a poorer sense of direction and higher spatial anxiety. People reported using GPS most frequently for time and traffic estimation, regardless of ability. Finally, people reported using GPS less, regardless of ability, when they were more familiar with an environment. Collectively these findings suggest that people moderate their use of GPS, depending on their knowledge, ability, and confidence in their own abilities, and often report using GPS to augment rather than replace spatial environmental knowledge.

The influence of landmark visualization style on task performance, visual attention, and spatial learning in a real-world navigation task

Depicting landmarks on mobile maps is an increasingly popular countermeasure to the negative effect that navigation aids have on spatial learning - landmarks guide visual attention and facilitate map-to-environment information matching. However, the most effective method to visualize landmarks on mobile map aids remains an open question. We conducted a real-world navigation study outdoors to evaluate the influence of realistic vs. abstract 3D landmark visualization styles on wayfinders' navigation performance, visual attention, and spatial learning. While navigating with realistic landmarks, low-spatial-ability wayfinders focused more on the landmarks in the environment and demonstrated improved knowledge of directions between landmarks. Our findings emphasize the importance of visual realism when enriching navigation aids with landmarks to guide attention and enhance spatial learning for low-spatial-ability wayfinders.

Getting LOST: A conceptual framework for supporting and enhancing spatial navigation in aging

Spatial navigation is more difficult and effortful for older than younger individuals, a shift which occurs for a variety of neurological, physical, and cognitive reasons associated with aging. Despite a large body of evidence documenting age-related deficits in spatial navigation, comparatively less research addresses how to facilitate more effective navigation behavior for older adults. Since navigation challenges arise for a variety of reasons in old age, a one-size-fits-all solution is unlikely to work. Here, we introduce a framework for the variety of spatial navigation challenges faced in aging, which we call LOST-Location, Orientation, Spatial mapping, and Transit. The LOST framework builds on evidence from the cognitive neuroscience of spatial navigation, which reveals distinct components underpinning human wayfinding. We evaluate research on navigational aids-devices and depictions-which help people find their way around; and we reflect on how navigation aids solve (or fail to solve) specific wayfinding difficulties faced by older adults. In summary, we emphasize a bespoke approach to improving spatial navigation in aging, which focuses on tailoring navigation solutions to specific navigation challenges. Our hope is that by providing precise support to older navigators, navigation opportunities can facilitate independence and exploration, while minimizing the danger of becoming lost. We conclude by delineating critical knowledge gaps in how to improve older adults' spatial navigation capacities that the novel LOST framework could guide to address. This article is categorized under: Psychology > Development and Aging Neuroscience > Cognition Neuroscience > Behavior.

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.

Neuroadaptive LBS: towards human-, context-, and task-adaptive mobile geographic information displays to support spatial learning for pedestrian navigation

Well-designed, neuroadaptive mobile geographic information displays (namGIDs) could improve the lives of millions of mobile citizens of the mostly urban information society who daily need to make time critical and societally relevant decisions while navigating. What are the basic perceptual and neurocognitive processes with which individuals make movement decisions when guided by human- and context-adaptive namGIDs? How can we study this in an ecologically valid way, also outside of the highly controlled laboratory? We report first ideas and results from our unique neuroadaptive research agenda that brings us closer to answering this fundamental empirical question. We present our first implemented methodological solutions of novel ambulatory evaluation methods to study and improve Location-based System (LBS) displays, by critical examination of how perceptual, neurocognitive, psychophysiological, and display design factors might influence decision-making and spatial learning in pedestrian mobility across broad ranges of users and mobility contexts.

A Web-GIS tool for diagnosing spatial orientation of young adults: design and evaluation of Geo-Survey

Spatial orientation is the effectiveness with which one is able to assess the mutual location of objects relative to a point of reference or a system of coordinates. Traditionally, this ability has been evaluated through field navigation tests, which do not take into account the prevailing influence of free online maps and virtual walks on a person's interpretation of space. In this context, this study presents a Web-GIS tool designed and developed to examine spatial orientation skills in the context of the used map type. The tool, named Geo-Survey, enables combination of survey questions with customized maps, providing users with a set of possible answer types. Moreover, using the unique concept of predefined answers, the tool attempts to automate the process of analysing research results. The tools' performance is evaluated via assessing the spatial orientation skills of a group of young adults.

Using a picture (or a thousand words) for supporting spatial knowledge of a complex virtual environment

External representations powerfully support and augment complex human behavior. When navigating, people often consult external representations to help them find the way to go, but do maps or verbal instructions improve spatial knowledge or support effective wayfinding? Here, we examine spatial knowledge with and without external representations in two studies where participants learn a complex virtual environment. In the first study, we asked participants to generate their own maps or verbal instructions, partway through learning. We found no evidence of improved spatial knowledge in a pointing task requiring participants to infer the direction between two targets, either on the same route or on different routes, and no differences between groups in accurately recreating a map of the target landmarks. However, as a methodological note, pointing was correlated with the accuracy of the maps that participants drew. In the second study, participants had access to an accurate map or set of verbal instructions that they could study while learning the layout of target landmarks. Again, we found no evidence of differentially improved spatial knowledge in the pointing task, although we did find that the map group could recreate a map of the target landmarks more accurately. However, overall improvement was high. There was evidence that the nature of improvement across all conditions was specific to initial navigation ability levels. Our findings add to a mixed literature on the role of external representations for navigation and suggest that more substantial intervention-more scaffolding, explicit training, enhanced visualization, perhaps with personalized sequencing-may be necessary to improve navigation ability.

Future directions in human mobility science

We provide a brief review of human mobility science and present three key areas where we expect to see substantial advancements. We start from the mind and discuss the need to better understand how spatial cognition shapes mobility patterns. We then move to societies and argue the importance of better understanding new forms of transportation. We conclude by discussing how algorithms shape mobility behavior and provide useful tools for modelers. Finally, we discuss how progress on these research directions may help us address some of the challenges our society faces today.

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.

A Systematic Review of Navigation Assistance Systems for People With Dementia

Technological developments provide solutions to alleviate the tremendous impact on the health and autonomy due to the impact of dementia on navigation abilities. We systematically reviewed the literature on devices tested to provide assistance to people with dementia during indoor, outdoor and virtual navigation (PROSPERO ID number: 215585). Medline and Scopus databases were searched from inception. Our aim was to summarize the results from the literature to guide future developments. Twenty-three articles were included in our study. Three types of information were extracted from these studies. First, the types of navigation advice the devices provided were assessed through: (i) the sensorial modality of presentation, e.g., visual and tactile stimuli, (ii) the navigation content, e.g., landmarks, and (iii) the timing of presentation, e.g., systematically at intersections. Second, we analyzed the technology that the devices were based on, e.g., smartphone. Third, the experimental methodology used to assess the devices and the navigation outcome was evaluated. We report and discuss the results from the literature based on these three main characteristics. Finally, based on these considerations, recommendations are drawn, challenges are identified and potential solutions are suggested. Augmented reality-based devices, intelligent tutoring systems and social support should particularly further be explored.

Using spontaneous eye blink-related brain activity to investigate cognitive load during mobile map-assisted navigation

The continuous assessment of pedestrians' cognitive load during a naturalistic mobile map-assisted navigation task is challenging because of limited experimental control over stimulus presentation, human-map-interactions, and other participant responses. To overcome this challenge, the present study takes advantage of navigators' spontaneous eye blinks during navigation to serve as event markers in continuously recorded electroencephalography (EEG) data to assess cognitive load in a mobile map-assisted navigation task. We examined if and how displaying different numbers of landmarks (3 vs. 5 vs. 7) on mobile maps along a given route would influence navigators' cognitive load during navigation in virtual urban environments. Cognitive load was assessed by the peak amplitudes of the blink-related fronto-central N2 and parieto-occipital P3. Our results show increased parieto-occipital P3 amplitude indicating higher cognitive load in the 7-landmark condition, compared to showing 3 or 5 landmarks. Our prior research already demonstrated that participants acquire more spatial knowledge in the 5- and 7-landmark conditions compared to the 3-landmark condition. Together with the current study, we find that showing 5 landmarks, compared to 3 or 7 landmarks, improved spatial learning without overtaxing cognitive load during navigation in different urban environments. Our findings also indicate a possible cognitive load spillover effect during map-assisted wayfinding whereby cognitive load during map viewing might have affected cognitive load during goal-directed locomotion in the environment or vice versa. Our research demonstrates that users' cognitive load and spatial learning should be considered together when designing the display of future navigation aids and that navigators' eye blinks can serve as useful event makers to parse continuous human brain dynamics reflecting cognitive load in naturalistic settings.

Individual Differences and Skill Training in Cognitive Mapping: How and Why People Differ

Spatial ability plays important roles in academic learning and everyday activities. A type of spatial thinking that is of particular significance to people's daily lives is cognitive mapping, that is, the process of acquiring, representing, and using knowledge about spatial environments. However, the skill of cognitive mapping shows large individual differences, and the task of spatial orientation and navigation poses great difficulty for some people. In this article, I look at the motivation and findings in the research into spatial knowledge acquisition from an individual differences perspective. I also discuss major implications of the existence of large individual differences, particularly the possibility of improving cognitive mapping by training and adjusting navigation assistance to the wide variations in spatial aptitudes and preferences among people.

On the proposed role of metacognition in environment learning: recommendations for research

Metacognition plays a role in environment learning (EL). When navigating, we monitor environment information to judge our likelihood to remember our way, and we engage in control by using tools to prevent getting lost. Yet, the relationship between metacognition and EL is understudied. In this paper, we examine the possibility of leveraging metacognition to support EL. However, traditional metacognitive theories and methodologies were not developed with EL in mind. Here, we use traditional metacognitive theories and approaches as a foundation for a new examination of metacognition in EL. We highlight three critical considerations about EL. Namely: (1) EL is a complex process that unfolds sequentially and is thereby enriched with multiple different types of cues, (2) EL is inherently driven by a series of ecologically relevant motivations and constraints, and (3) monitoring and control interact to support EL. In doing so, we describe how task demands and learning motivations inherent to EL should shape how metacognition is explored. With these considerations, we provide three methodological recommendations for investigating metacognition during EL. Specifically, researchers should: (1) instantiate EL goals to impact learning, metacognition, and retrieval processes, (2) prompt learners to make frequent metacognitive judgments and consider metacognitive accuracy as a primary performance metric, and (3) incorporate insights from both transfer appropriate processing and monitoring hypotheses when designing EL assessments. In summary, to effectively investigate how metacognition impacts EL, both ecological and methodological considerations need to be weighed.

Redesigning navigational aids using virtual global landmarks to improve spatial knowledge retrieval

Although beacon- and map-based spatial strategies are the default strategies for navigation activities, today's navigational aids mostly follow a beacon-based design where one is provided with turn-by-turn instructions. Recent research, however, shows that our reliance on these navigational aids is causing a decline in our spatial skills. We are processing less of our surrounding environment and relying too heavily on the instructions given. To reverse this decline, we need to engage more in map-based learning, which encourages the user to process and integrate spatial knowledge into a cognitive map built to benefit flexible and independent spatial navigation behaviour. In an attempt to curb our loss of skills, we proposed a navigation assistant to support map-based learning during active navigation. Called the virtual global landmark (VGL) system, this augmented reality (AR) system is based on the kinds of techniques used in traditional orienteering. Specifically, a notable landmark is always present in the user's sight, allowing the user to continuously compute where they are in relation to that specific location. The efficacy of the unit as a navigational aid was tested in an experiment with 27 students from the University of Technology Sydney via a comparison of brain dynamics and behaviour. From an analysis of behaviour and event-related spectral perturbation, we found that participants were encouraged to process more spatial information with a map-based strategy where a silhouette of the compass-like landmark was perpetually in view. As a result of this technique, they consistently navigated with greater efficiency and better accuracy.

Multisensory GPS impact on spatial representation in an immersive virtual reality driving game

Individuals are increasingly relying on GPS devices to orient and find their way in their environment and research has pointed to a negative impact of navigational systems on spatial memory. We used immersive virtual reality to examine whether an audio–visual navigational aid can counteract the negative impact of visual only or auditory only GPS systems. We also examined the effect of spatial representation preferences and abilities when using different GPS systems. Thirty-four participants completed an IVR driving game including 4 GPS conditions (No GPS; audio GPS; visual GPS; audio–visual GPS). After driving one of the routes in one of the 4 GPS conditions, participants were asked to drive to a target landmark they had previously encountered. The audio–visual GPS condition returned more accurate performance than the visual and no GPS condition. General orientation ability predicted the distance to the target landmark for the visual and the audio–visual GPS conditions, while landmark preference predicted performance in the audio GPS condition. Finally, the variability in end distance to the target landmark was significantly reduced in the audio–visual GPS condition when compared to the visual and audio GPS conditions. These findings support theories of spatial cognition and inform the optimisation of GPS designs.

Using virtual global landmark to improve incidental spatial learning

To reduce the decline of spatial cognitive skills caused by the increasing use of automated GPS navigation, the virtual global landmark (VGL) system is proposed to help people naturally improve their sense of direction. Designed to accompany a heads-up navigation system, VGL system constantly displays silhouette of global landmarks in the navigator’s vision as a notable frame of reference. This study exams how VGL system impacts incidental spatial learning, i.e., subconscious spatial knowledge acquisition. We asked 55 participants to explore a virtual environment and then draw a map of what they had explored while capturing electroencephalogram (EEG) signals and eye activity. The results suggest that, with the VGL system, participants paid more attention during exploration and performed significantly better at the map drawing task—a result that indicates substantially improved incidental spatial learning. This finding might kickstart a redesigning navigation aids, to teach users to learn a route rather than simply showing them the way.

What Does the Ideal Built-In Car Navigation System Look Like?—An Investigation in the Central European Region

Driving is based on effective navigation. When using a navigation device, the user interface, the amount and quality of the underlying data and its representation all effect the quality of navigation. This study evaluates whether drivers in three different countries consider these devices to be useful and what functionality they would prefer. An online questionnaire was used to assess built-in navigation systems. The findings from 213 respondents show that current car GPSs are overloaded with features. Regardless of country, drivers simply require more basic functionality in the interface. It was also noted that the embedded functions in these devices are not fully utilized. In addition, many people use the navigation service to enter a new address while the car is moving. It may be worth examining how this option can be better implemented.

Orientation Experiences and Navigation Aid Use: A Self-Report Lifespan Study on the Role of Age and Visuospatial Factors

Spatial orientation is essential for daily life, but it deteriorates with aging. The present study was aimed at investigating age changes across the adult lifespan in the self-reported use of navigation aids and everyday orientation experiences, as well as investigating to what extent these are related to visuospatial working memory (VSWM) and self-reported wayfinding inclinations. A sample of 456 people aged 25–84 years rated how much they use navigation aids (maps, GPS, verbal directions), how much they went out, and how much they reached or lost their way to unfamiliar destinations (in 2016). Then, they performed the jigsaw puzzle test (VSWM) and questionnaires on sense of direction, pleasure in exploring, and spatial anxiety. The results showed that increasing age is related to a lower tendency to go out, fewer experiences of finding one’s way and getting lost, a lower level of GPS use, and increased verbal directions use. After age changes were accounted for, VSWM was related to aid use and orientation experiences (except for losing one’s way), wayfinding inclinations (especially spatial anxiety) to using a map, and orientation experiences. Overall, other than age, VSWM and one’s wayfinding attitudes can play a role–albeit it a modest one–in spatial behaviors.

Comparing an augmented reality navigation display to an electronic map for military reconnaissance

The next generation of displays for soldiers may include augmented reality capabilities. One such display, called Mirror in the Sky (MitS), presents survey information in the upper visual field. Using a virtual reality simulation of a military reconnaissance scenario, we compared a MitS prototype to a familiar electronic 2D north-up map. Participants (24 soldiers) were told to follow a prescribed route, detect potential threats, and reroute around them. They also performed a secondary task as a measure of mental workload. At the end of the route, the soldiers were asked to recall the locations of threats and route changes. Participants made better reroute decisions with the north-up map than with MitS, although no differences were observed for threat detection or mental workload. They also scored higher on recall with the north-up map than with MitS. Practitioner Summary: An augmented reality navigation aid was compared to an electronic north-up map in a military reconnaissance scenario, in a virtual reality simulation. Participants made better route decisions and had better recall with the north-up map, but no mental workload differences were found between displays.

London taxi drivers: A review of neurocognitive studies and an exploration of how they build their cognitive map of London

Licensed London taxi drivers have been found to show changes in the gray matter density of their hippocampus over the course of training and decades of navigation in London (UK). This has been linked to their learning and using of the "Knowledge of London," the names and layout of over 26,000 streets and thousands of points of interest in London. Here we review past behavioral and neuroimaging studies of London taxi drivers, covering the structural differences in hippocampal gray matter density and brain dynamics associated with navigating London. We examine the process by which they learn the layout of London, detailing the key learning steps: systematic study of maps, travel on selected overlapping routes, the mental visualization of places and the optimal use of subgoals. Our analysis provides the first map of the street network covered by the routes used to learn the network, allowing insight into where there are gaps in this network. The methods described could be widely applied to aid spatial learning in the general population and may provide insights for artificial intelligence systems to efficiently learn new environments.

Spatial knowledge acquired from first-person and dynamic map perspectives

As we become familiar with an environment through navigation and map study, spatial information is encoded into a mental representation of space. It is currently unclear to what degree mental representations of space are determined by the perspective in which spatial information is acquired. The overlapping model of spatial knowledge argues that spatial information is encoded into a common spatial representation independent of learning perspective, whereas the partially independent model argues for dissociated spatial representations specific to the learning perspective. The goal of this study was to provide insight into this debate by investigating the cognitive functions underlying the formation of spatial knowledge obtained through different learning perspectives. Hundred participants studied an ecologically valid virtual environment via a first-person and map perspective. The map employed in the study was dynamic, allowing for the disentanglement of learning perspective and sequential information presentation. Spatial knowledge was examined using an array of navigation tasks that assessed both route and survey knowledge. Results show that distinct visuospatial abilities predict route knowledge depending on whether an environment is learned via a first-person or map perspective. Both shared and distinct visuospatial abilities predicted the formation of survey knowledge in the two perspective learning conditions. Additionally, sequential presentation of map information diminishes the perspective dependent performance differences on spatial tasks reported in earlier studies. Overall, the results provide further evidence for the partially dissociated model of spatial knowledge, as the perspective from which an environment is learned influences the spatial representation that is formed.

Assessing the Effect of a Visual Navigational System on Route-Learning From an Ecological Perspective

Route-learning, considered from an ecological approach to perception, is posited to involve the detection of information over time that specifies a path from one location to another. The study examines whether the use of a visual navigational system (e.g., GPS) may impede route-learning by drawing attention away from transitions along a path that serve as information for way-finding. Virtual reality (VR) technology used in conjunction with an extensive, detailed environmental simulation was employed to explore this possibility. One group of participants drove a simulated car in VR along a designated path while relying on visual GPS guidance. It was expected that use of the GPS display would draw attention away from temporally continuous path information. A second group initially drove the same route without GPS guidance. Both groups drove the path a second time without navigational assistance. Overall, the percentage of correct actions taken at intersections (transitions) during the second trial were significantly lower for the first group who initially drove the route with visual GPS guidance as compared to those who initially traveled the route without it. The results are consistent with the kind of trade-off that is commonplace when tools are used to mediate and assist skilled action.

Spatial thinking, cognitive mapping, and spatial awareness

This article looks at wayfinding and spatial orientation as important everyday spatial thinking skills and discusses why some people have difficulty with the skills and how one can assist people with difficulty in navigation. It first clarifies the characteristics of human spatial cognition and behavior and the tendency of spatial knowledge to be distorted and fragmented in the environment. In particular, it emphasizes the existence of large individual differences in the skill of cognitive mapping, namely the accuracy of metric and configurational understanding of the environment. The article then looks at difficulties associated with the use of maps and description of spatial relations. Given these difficulties, the article discusses the possibilities of assisting people with mobile navigation tools and improving the skill of cognitive mapping by training in spatial orientation. Implications for the development of user-adapted and context-aware navigation assistance and the significance of research from an individual differences perspective are finally discussed.

Navigating in Virtual Environments: Does a Map or a Map-Based Description Presented Beforehand Help?

BACKGROUND

One of the aims of research in spatial cognition is to examine the factors capable of optimizing environment learning from navigation, which can be examined using a virtual environment (VE). Different learning conditions can play an important part.

AIM

This study examined the benefits of presenting configured information (layout with elements arranged in it) using a map or verbal description before a learner navigates in a new environment.

METHOD

Ninety participants were assigned to three learning groups of 30 individuals (15 males and 15 females). Before participants navigated in a VE, one group was shown a map of the environment ("map before navigation"), a second group read a map-like description of the environment ("description before navigation"), and a third group started navigating without any prior input ("only navigation"). Participants then learned a path in a VE (presented as if they were driving a car). Their recall was subsequently tested using three types of task: (i) route retracing; (ii) pointing; (iii) path drawing. Several measures were administered to assess participants' individual visuospatial and verbal factors.

RESULTS

There were no differences between the three groups in route retracing. The "map before navigation" group performed better than the "only navigation" group in both the pointing and the path drawing tasks, however, and also outperformed the "description before navigation" group in the path drawing task. Some relations emerged between participants' individual difference factors and their recall performance.

CONCLUSIONS

In learning from navigation, seeing a map beforehand benefits learning accuracy. Recall performance is also supported, at least in part, by individual visuospatial and verbal factors.

Rethinking GPS navigation: creating cognitive maps through auditory clues

GPS navigation is commonplace in everyday life. While it has the capacity to make our lives easier, it is often used to automate functions that were once exclusively performed by our brain. Staying mentally active is key to healthy brain aging. Therefore, is GPS navigation causing more harm than good? Here we demonstrate that traditional turn-by-turn navigation promotes passive spatial navigation and ultimately, poor spatial learning of the surrounding environment. We propose an alternative form of GPS navigation based on sensory augmentation, that has the potential to fundamentally alter the way we navigate with GPS. By implementing a 3D spatial audio system similar to an auditory compass, users are directed towards their destination without explicit directions. Rather than being led passively through verbal directions, users are encouraged to take an active role in their own spatial navigation, leading to more accurate cognitive maps of space. Technology will always play a significant role in everyday life; however, it is important that we actively engage with the world around us. By simply rethinking the way we interact with GPS navigation, we can engage users in their own spatial navigation, leading to a better spatial understanding of the explored environment.

Postural Control While Walking Interferes With Spatial Learning in Older Adults Navigating in a Real Environment

Cognitive demands for postural control increase with aging and cognitive-motor interference (CMI) exists for a number of walking situations, especially with visuo-spatial cognitive tasks. Such interference also influences spatial learning abilities among older adults; however, this is rarely considered in research on aging in spatial navigation. We posited that visually and physically exploring an unknown environment may be subject to CMI for older adults. We investigated potential indicators of postural control interfering with spatial learning. Given known associations between age-related alterations in gait and brain structure, we also examined potential neuroanatomical correlates of this interference. Fourteen young and 14 older adults had to find an invisible goal in an unfamiliar, real, ecological environment. We measured walking speed, trajectory efficiency (direct route over taken route) and goal fixations (proportion of visual fixations toward the goal area). We calculated the change in walking speed between the first and last trials and adaptation indices for all three variables to quantify their modulation across learning trials. All participants were screened with a battery of visuo-cognitive tests. Eighteen of our participants (10 young, 8 older) also underwent a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examination. Older adults reduced their walking speed considerably on the first, compared to the last trial. The adaptation index of walking speed correlated positively with those of trajectory efficiency and goal fixations, indicating a reduction in resource sharing between walking and encoding the environment. The change in walking speed correlated negatively with gray matter volume in superior parietal and occipital regions and the precuneus. We interpret older adults’ change in walking speed as indicative of CMI, similar to dual task costs. This is supported by the correlations between the adaptation indices and between the change in walking speed and gray matter volume in brain regions that are important for navigation, given that they are involved in visual attention, sensory integration and encoding of space. These findings under ecological conditions in a natural spatial learning task question what constitutes dual tasking in older adults and they can lead future research to reconsider the actual cognitive burden of postural control in aging navigation research.

Use of an Indoor Navigation System by Sighted and Blind Travelers

This article first reviews the pros and cons of current accessible indoor navigation systems and then describes a study using commercial smart devices to navigate routes through a complex building. Our interest was in comparing performance when using real-time narrative descriptions (system-aided condition) vs. a memory-based condition where the same narrative information was only provided to users from the route's origin. We tested two groups of blind and visually impaired (BVI) users, including people above and below 60 years of age, as well as a third sighted control group. Evaluating older BVI participants is important, as the majority of vision loss is age-related, yet navigation performance using access technology is rarely studied with this demographic. Behavioral results demonstrated that access to real-time (system-aided) information led to better navigation accuracy and greater confidence by blind users compared to the information-matched memory condition. Performance for blind participants over 60 years old was nearly identical with their younger peers—an important outcome supporting the efficacy of using navigational technologies by this fast-growing population. Route completion accuracy and requests for assistance did not reliably differ between blind and sighted participants when using the system, suggesting that access to narrative route information led to functionally equivalent navigation behavior, irrespective of visual status. Survey results revealed strong user support for real-time information and provided important guidance for future interface refinements.

Uncertainty promotes information-seeking actions, but what information?

Navigating an unfamiliar city almost certainly brings out uncertainty about getting from place to place. This uncertainty, in turn, triggers information gathering. While navigational uncertainty is common, little is known about what type of information people seek when they are uncertain. The primary choices for information types with environments include landmarks (distal or local), landmark configurations (relation between two or more landmarks), and a distinct geometry, at least for some environments. Uncertainty could lead individuals to more likely seek one of these information types. Extant research informs both predictions about and empirical work exploring this question. This review covers relevant cognitive literature and then suggests empirical approaches to better understand information-seeking actions triggered by uncertainty. Notably, we propose that examining continuous navigation data can provide important insights into information seeking. Benefits of continuous data will be elaborated through one paradigm, spatial reorientation, which intentionally induces uncertainty through disorientation and cue conflict. While this and other methods have been used previously, data have primarily reflected only the final choice. Continuous behavior during a task can better reveal the cognition-action loop contributing to spatial learning and decision making.

A mirror in the sky: assessment of an augmented reality method for depicting navigational information

We investigated the efficacy of a novel augmented reality (AR) navigation display called Mirror in the Sky (MitS). AR displays can reduce the distance between virtual imagery content and the user's view of the environment but may have limited benefit for depicting map-based survey information. MitS presents a simulated mirror in the upper visual field, which reflects the topographic layout of the terrain in front of the user. In our experiment, 28 participants used MitS and a track-up Map in virtual reality to perform a route confirmation task, which required participants to decide whether a route could be successfully navigated. A post-trial threat location recall task examined spatial awareness. On that task, accuracy, duration, and subjective workload measures favoured the Map. However, participants with virtual reality experience made more accurate route confirmation decisions with MitS than the Map. Practitioner summary: We compared an augmented reality display called Mirror in the Sky (MitS) to a conventional electronic map for route confirmation and threat location tasks. Although the electronic map showed advantages over MitS on some measures, users with some VR experience performed route confirmation more accurately with MitS than a map.

Does active learning benefit spatial memory during navigation with restricted peripheral field?

Spatial learning of real-world environments is impaired with severely restricted peripheral field of view (FOV). In prior research, the effects of restricted FOV on spatial learning have been studied using passive learning paradigms - learners walk along pre-defined paths and are told the location of targets to be remembered. Our research has shown that mobility demands and environmental complexity may contribute to impaired spatial learning with restricted FOV through attentional mechanisms. Here, we examine the role of active navigation, both in locomotion and in target search. First, we compared effects of active versus passive locomotion (walking with a physical guide versus being pushed in a wheelchair) on a task of pointing to remembered targets in participants with simulated 10° FOV. We found similar performance between active and passive locomotion conditions in both simpler (Experiment 1) and more complex (Experiment 2) spatial learning tasks. Experiment 3 required active search for named targets to remember while navigating, using both a mild and a severe FOV restriction. We observed no difference in pointing accuracy between the two FOV restrictions but an increase in attentional demands with severely restricted FOV. Experiment 4 compared active and passive search with severe FOV restriction, within subjects. We found no difference in pointing accuracy, but observed an increase in cognitive load in active versus passive search. Taken together, in the context of navigating with restricted FOV, neither locomotion method nor level of active search affected spatial learning. However, the greater cognitive demands could have counteracted the potential advantage of the active learning conditions.

Habitual use of GPS negatively impacts spatial memory during self-guided navigation

Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation devices and applications have become ubiquitous over the last decade. However, it is unclear whether using GPS affects our own internal navigation system, or spatial memory, which critically relies on the hippocampus. We assessed the lifetime GPS experience of 50 regular drivers as well as various facets of spatial memory, including spatial memory strategy use, cognitive mapping, and landmark encoding using virtual navigation tasks. We first present cross-sectional results that show that people with greater lifetime GPS experience have worse spatial memory during self-guided navigation, i.e. when they are required to navigate without GPS. In a follow-up session, 13 participants were retested three years after initial testing. Although the longitudinal sample was small, we observed an important effect of GPS use over time, whereby greater GPS use since initial testing was associated with a steeper decline in hippocampal-dependent spatial memory. Importantly, we found that those who used GPS more did not do so because they felt they had a poor sense of direction, suggesting that extensive GPS use led to a decline in spatial memory rather than the other way around. These findings are significant in the context of society’s increasing reliance on GPS.

Positive and Negative Wayfinding Inclinations, Choice of Navigation Aids, and How They Relate to Personality Traits

Abstract. This study aimed to examine the relationship between people’s self-reported wayfinding inclinations, their preference for certain navigation aids (maps vs. GPS vs. verbal directions), and their personality traits. A sample of 222 undergraduates completed questionnaires on personality traits, wayfinding inclinations and preferred navigation aids, and two spatial tasks. The results showed that spatial ability, positive wayfinding inclinations and negative wayfinding inclinations are distinct factors. Only wayfinding inclinations were related to personality traits: positive inclinations correlated positively, and negative inclinations inversely with Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Openness. Negative inclinations were only associated with poor Emotional stability. Further, Conscientiousness and Openness were correlated with a preference for map use, and Agreeableness with a preference for verbal directions. Analyzing facets of these personality traits clarified the relations. These findings are discussed within the spatial cognition domain, broadening the array of individual factors (such as spatial attitudes and personality traits) and their relation to consider in defining individual spatial profiles.

Feedback and Direction Sources Influence Navigation Decision Making on Experienced Routes

When navigating in a new environment, it is typical for people to resort to external guidance such as Global Positioning System (GPS), or people. However, in the real world, even though navigators have learned the route, they may still prefer to travel with external guidance. We explored how the availability of feedback and the source of external guidance affect navigation decision-making on experienced routes in the presence of external guidance. In three experiments, participants navigated a simulated route three times and then verbally confirmed that they had learned it. They then traveled the same route again, accompanied with no, correct, or incorrect direction guidance, which latter two were provided by a GPS (Experiment 1), a stranger (Experiment 2), or a friend (Experiment 3). Half of the participants received immediate feedback on their navigation decisions, while the other half without feedback did not know if they had selected the correct directions. Generally, without feedback, participants relied on external guidance, regardless of the direction sources. Results also showed that participants trusted the GPS the most, but performed best with their friends as a direction source. With feedback, participants did not show differences in performance between the correct and incorrect guidance conditions, indicating that feedback plays a critical role in evaluating the reliability of external guidance. Our findings suggest that incorrect guidance without any feedback might disturb navigation decision-making, which was further moderated by the perceived credibility of direction sources. We discuss these results within the context of navigation decision-making theory and consider implications for wayfinding behaviors as a social activity.

How does navigation system behavior influence human behavior?

Navigation systems are ubiquitous tools to assist wayfinders of the mobile information society with various navigational tasks. Whenever such systems assist with self-localization and path planning, they reduce human effort for navigating. Automated navigation assistance benefits navigation performance, but research seems to show that it negatively affects attention to environment properties, spatial knowledge acquisition, and retention of spatial information. Very little is known about how to design navigation systems for pedestrian navigation that increase both navigation performance and spatial knowledge acquisition. To this end, we empirically tested participants (N = 64) using four different navigation system behaviors (between-subject design). Two cognitive processes with varying levels of automation, self-localization and allocation of attention, define navigation system behaviors: either the system automatically executes one of the processes (high level of automation), or the system leaves the decision of when and where to execute the process to the navigator (low level of automation). In two experimental phases, we applied a novel empirical framework for evaluating spatial knowledge acquisition in a real-world outdoor urban environment. First, participants followed a route assisted by a navigation system and, simultaneously, incidentally acquired spatial knowledge. Second, participants reversed the route using the spatial knowledge acquired during the assisted phase, this time without the aid of the navigation system. Results of the route-following phase did not reveal differences in navigation performance across groups using different navigation system behaviors. However, participants using systems with higher levels of automation seemed not to acquire enough spatial knowledge to reverse the route without navigation errors. Furthermore, employing novel methods to analyze mobile eye tracking data revealed distinct patterns of human gaze behavior over time and space. We thus can demonstrate how to increase spatial knowledge acquisition without harming navigation performance when using navigation systems, and how to influence human navigation behavior with varying navigation system behavior. Thus, we provide key findings for the design of intelligent automated navigation systems in real-world scenarios.

Spatial decision dynamics during wayfinding: intersections prompt the decision-making process

Intersections are critical decision points for wayfinders, but it is unknown how decision dynamics unfold during pedestrian wayfinding. Some research implies that pedestrians leverage available visual cues to actively compare options while in an intersection, whereas other research suggests that people strive to make decisions long before overt responses are required. Two experiments examined these possibilities while participants navigated virtual desktop environments, assessing information-seeking behavior (Experiment 1) and movement dynamics (Experiment 2) while approaching intersections. In Experiment 1, we found that participants requested navigation guidance while in path segments approaching an intersection and the guidance facilitated choice behavior. In Experiment 2, we found that participants tended to orient themselves toward an upcoming turn direction before entering an intersection, particularly as they became more familiar with the environment. Some of these patterns were modulated by individual differences in spatial ability, sense of direction, spatial strategies, and gender. Together, we provide novel evidence that deciding whether to continue straight or turn involves a dynamic, distributed decision-making process that is prompted by upcoming intersections and modulated by individual differences and environmental experience. We discuss implications of these results for spatial decision-making theory and the development of innovative adaptive, beacon-based navigation guidance systems.

Let me be your guide: physical guidance improves spatial learning for older adults with simulated low vision

Monitoring one's safety during low vision navigation demands limited attentional resources which may impair spatial learning of the environment. In studies of younger adults, we have shown that these mobility monitoring demands can be alleviated, and spatial learning subsequently improved, via the presence of a physical guide during navigation. The present study extends work with younger adults to an older adult sample with simulated low vision. We test the effect of physical guidance on improving spatial learning as well as general age-related changes in navigation ability. Participants walked with and without a physical guide on novel real-world paths in an indoor environment and pointed to remembered target locations. They completed concurrent measures of cognitive load on the trials. Results demonstrate an improvement in learning under low vision conditions with a guide compared to walking without a guide. However, our measure of cognitive load did not vary between guidance conditions. We also conducted a cross-age comparison and found support for age-related declines in spatial learning generally and greater effects of physical guidance with increasing age.

The Effects of Restricted Peripheral Field-of-View on Spatial Learning while Navigating

Recent work with simulated reductions in visual acuity and contrast sensitivity has found decrements in survey spatial learning as well as increased attentional demands when navigating, compared to performance with normal vision. Given these findings, and previous work showing that peripheral field loss has been associated with impaired mobility and spatial memory for room-sized spaces, we investigated the role of peripheral vision during navigation using a large-scale spatial learning paradigm. First, we aimed to establish the magnitude of spatial memory errors at different levels of field restriction. Second, we tested the hypothesis that navigation under these different levels of restriction would use additional attentional resources. Normally sighted participants walked on novel real-world paths wearing goggles that restricted the field-of-view (FOV) to severe (15°, 10°, 4°, or 0°) or mild angles (60°) and then pointed to remembered target locations using a verbal reporting measure. They completed a concurrent auditory reaction time task throughout each path to measure cognitive load. Only the most severe restrictions (4° and blindfolded) showed impairment in pointing error compared to the mild restriction (within-subjects). The 10° and 4° conditions also showed an increase in reaction time on the secondary attention task, suggesting that navigating with these extreme peripheral field restrictions demands the use of limited cognitive resources. This comparison of different levels of field restriction suggests that although peripheral field loss requires the actor to use more attentional resources while navigating starting at a less extreme level (10°), spatial memory is not negatively affected until the restriction is very severe (4°). These results have implications for understanding of the mechanisms underlying spatial learning during navigation and the approaches that may be taken to develop assistance for navigation with visual impairment.

Cognitive Offloading

If you have ever tilted your head to perceive a rotated image, or programmed a smartphone to remind you of an upcoming appointment, you have engaged in cognitive offloading: the use of physical action to alter the information processing requirements of a task so as to reduce cognitive demand. Despite the ubiquity of this type of behavior, it has only recently become the target of systematic investigation in and of itself. We review research from several domains that focuses on two main questions: (i) what mechanisms trigger cognitive offloading, and (ii) what are the cognitive consequences of this behavior? We offer a novel metacognitive framework that integrates results from diverse domains and suggests avenues for future research.