Learning relative directions between landmarks in a desktop virtual environment

This study presents two experiments that examine howindividuals learn relative directions betweenlandmarks in a desktop virtual environment. Subjectswere presented snapshot images of different virtualenvironments containing distinguishing landmarks anda road network. Following the presentation of eachvirtual environment, subjects were given a relativedirection test. The relative direction test involvedindicating the direction of hidden landmarks fromdifferent vantage points in the environment. Half ofthese vantage points were presented during thelearning phase, while the other half were novel.Results showed that subjects learned relativedirections between landmarks equally well when sceneswere presented in either a sequential or random order.Furthermore, viewing a configuration of landmarks ina desktop virtual environment from multipleperspectives produced a viewpoint dependentrepresentation in memory. Subjects had significantlygreater response times for new viewing perspectives,as compared to previously viewed scenes. Thisviewpoint dependent representation of the environmentpersisted despite learning under conditions ofspatio-temporal discontinuity and changes to anenvironmental frame of reference.     

Contributing Factors to Temporal and Spatial Associations in Mental Representations of Maps

Abstract

The present work explores an interactive model of spatial and temporal information in map memory. In four experiments, participants learned a map with temporal and spatial information confounded or unconfounded. Attentional and representational levels of information were made apparent through tasks that tap spatial, temporal, or other information. Learning criteria emphasizing sequential order or location imposed differential weighting of the information types in memory. Results indicate that map memory is spatial, but also interacts with the order in which map locations are encountered. Findings show flexibility in allocating attention and information indexing of location and sequential order information in map learning.     

The Influence of Landmarks and Pre-exposure to a Structural Map During the Process of Spatial Knowledge Acquisition: A Study with Children and Adults in a Virtual Environment

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the effects of featural information (landmarks) and geometric information (pre-exposure to a structural map) and their possible interaction during the process of spatial knowledge acquisition of 8- and 11-year-old children and adults in a virtual environment. The study confirmed the well-known result of a developmental achievement in spatial cognition from childhood to adulthood. Although landmarks and the pre-exposure to a structural map did not affect the time to learn a specific route, they influenced the use of behavior in spatial learning and eased the acquisition of spatial knowledge measured by a route reversal and map-drawing tasks. Children and adults are able to integrate featural and geometric information in the spatial knowledge acquisition process in an environmental space, but their integration depends on the spatial processing stages that are investigated. Moreover, it was successfully demonstrated that the use of desktop virtual environments seems to be appropriate to investigate the development of spatial cognition.     

Development of Landmark Knowledge at Decision Points

Two experiments investigated how people develop different landmark knowledge at decision points. Participants learned a route in a virtual city once or five times. One distinctive landmark was placed at each intersection of the route. At test, participants were released at each intersection according to the learning order and were required to determine the turning direction. At each intersection, the landmark was removed (no landmark), correctly placed (one landmark), duplicated on the other side (two identical landmarks), or misplaced from another intersection (two different landmarks) to disrupt the landmark sequence. The results suggested that humans develop different landmark knowledge (landmark knowledge for guidance, landmark knowledge for place recognition and knowledge of landmark sequence) with different navigation experience.     

Is Memory for Routes Enhanced by an Environment's Richness in Visual Landmarks?

We tested the hypothesis that a route's memorability is dependent on the frequency with which people are exposed to visual landmarks. Undergraduates learned either a route through an urban area lacking visually salient features, or a route in a neighborhood with many shops and urban objects. They were then asked to recall the learned route in the form of route directions and sketch maps. The results showed higher recall performance for the richer environment. When presented with photographs depicting scenes along the route, participants exposed to the richer environment had higher recognition scores and shorter response times than the others. The data confirm the functional role of landmarks in route memory and wayfinding.     

Is Route Learning More Than Serial Learning?

Abstract

The nature of route learning in terms of the memorizing of landmarks was investigated. In Experiment 1, participants memorized landmarks while being guided through a computer-simulated hallway (dynamic, with spatial context), or while viewing the landmarks one by one in front of a black background (static, without context). Two more conditions completed the 2 × 2 design. One condition preserved the dynamic landmark viewing properties (observers approached each object, passed it, turned to the next object, and so on), but the background was black (dynamic, without context). In the other condition the observer saw a stationary display of each object within a hallway, but did not approach the object (static, with context). Serial recall was much better after viewing the landmarks in the dynamic presentation format with spatial context than in the other conditions. Experiment 2 showed that the superior performance in the dynamic condition with context was abolished when all hallway segments were equally long. This implies that metric information is a component of route knowledge at a very early stage, which is incompatible with the dominant framework, but is compatible with the alternative framework for spatial microgenesis.     

Interactivity in map learning: The effect of cognitive load

The hypothesis that active learning is beneficial relative to passive observation was assessed in the context of spatial knowledge derived from maps. Active and passive participants studied a map either while performing a simultaneous spatial tapping task (high cognitive load) or in the absence of this task (low cognitive load). Active participants controlled how the map was learned, with passive participants observing map learning without exercising control. Spatial recall was assessed in two tests, directional judgements and map drawing. Map drawing and directional judgments showed a similar pattern of results, with performance detrimentally affected by a high load for active participants, but not for passive participants. The results indicate that activity and cognitive load interact, suggesting that active learning can be detrimental to spatial learning in cognitively demanding tasks.     

The effects of maps and textual information on navigation in a desktop virtual environment

This study presents an experimentthat investigates how individuals perform anavigation test in a desktop virtualenvironment. The participants were randomlyassigned to one of the five test conditions:(C1) a map as information material during theentire test, (C2) the map only visible beforethe test, (C3) textual information during theentire test, (C4) textual information onlybefore the test and (C5) no additionalnavigational cues. The results were thatadditional information during the entire testwas more effective than short periods ofstudying the map or textual information onlybefore the test. However, participants weremore accurate in finding their route when anykind of navigational cues were used than whenno navigational cues were used. The results ofan additional questionnaire indicate thatbetween the test groups there were nodifferences in estimating the travelleddistances. The performance to draw the coveredpath into a sketch map of the landscape did notdiffer significantly between the test groupswith additional navigational cues. Theseresults indicate that in certain environmentstextual information may provide an effectivealternative to navigation training with a map.     

Interface Familiarity Restores Active Advantage in a Virtual Exploration and Reconstruction Task in Children

Abstract

Active exploration is reportedly better than passive observation of spatial displacements in real environments, for the acquisition of relational spatial information, especially by children. However, a previous study using a virtual environment (VE) showed that children in a passive observation condition performed better than actives when asked to reconstruct in reality the environment explored virtually. Active children were unpractised in using the input device, which may have detracted from any active advantage, since input device operation may be regarded as a concurrent task, increasing cognitive load and spatial working memory demands. To examine this possibility, 7–8-year-old children in the present study were given 5 minutes of training with the joystick input device. When compared with passive participants for spatial learning, active participants gave a better performance than passives, placing objects significantly more accurately. The importance of interface training when using VEs for assessment and training was discussed.     

Determination of the Quasistatic Component of Microaccelerations at the MirStation

We describe the determination of the quasistatic component of microaccelerations, as it was done during the space experiments with the instruments DACON and ALICE-2. This component was calculated using the telemetric information related to the motion of the station with respect to its center of mass. The information consists of the values of the station angular velocity vector and the quaternion which specifies its orientation, determined at discrete instants of time. The quaternion is determined with a step of about 1 min, the angular velocity with a step of about 10 s. The information is used in the following manner. At first, the quaternion components corresponding to some time interval are smoothed by splines. Then, employing the obtained splines and kinematic equations, the angular velocity and acceleration of the station are calculated on this interval. Finally, the microacceleration is calculated as a function of time at the point of the location of the instrument. The data of measurements of the angular velocity are used for the purpose of control. As a rule, the available telemetric information allows one to find the quasi-static component for the entire time interval of carrying out the experiment. Examples of determination of this component for some experiments are presented. A comparison with the results of calculating the microacceleration quasistatic component by other methods is made.     

Rats in a transparent morris water maze use elemental and configural geometry of landmarks as well as distance to the pool wall

The aim of this study is to evaluate whatare the dimensions of a panorama of discretelandmarks that a rodent will store in order toreturn to a previously visited target. Ratswere trained to locate a hidden platform in acircular pool of clouded water set within aquasi-spherical enclosure. In order to find theplatform, they had to learn the geometricrelations between the platform and asurrounding set of three discrete landmarks,highly visible through the transparent wall ofthe pool. In test trials without a platform,the array of landmarks was so manipulated as todissociate the effect of actual distance to thelandmarks, of their angular separation, and oftheir apparent dimension. Animals were shown torely equally on angular separation and apparentdimension. The role of actual distance couldnot be definitely ascertained, as animals wereshown to additionally rely on the distance tothe pool wall in order to locate theplatform.     

Editorial: Cognitive Semantics and Spatio-Temporal Ontologies

How do people describe the location of a target object to another? This task requires a reference object or frame and terms of reference. Traditional linguistic analyses have loosely organized perspectives around people, objects, or environments as reference objects, using reference terms based on a viewpoint or the intrinsic sides of an object, such as left, right, front, and back or based on the environment, such as north, south, east, and west. In actual communication, social, spatial, and cognitive factors may also affect perspective choice. We examine those factors by varying the spatial information (landmarks and cardinal directions), the communication task (relative cognitive burden to speakers and addressees), and the culture of participants (American and Japanese). Speakers used addressees' perspectives more when addressees had the greater cognitive burden. They also used landmarks and cardinal directions when they were available, especially to avoid difficult discriminations like left/right. Some cases appearing to be perspective taking can be interpreted as using a person as a landmark. Finally, terms like near indicating close proximity were preferred to far and to terms requiring projection of directions. Globally, perspective choices of American and Japanese samples were strikingly similar; that is, Japanese did not select addressees' perspectives more than Americans. The traditional linguistic analyses need to be enhanced to account for effects of cognitive, situational, and social factors.     

Human Path Integration by Optic Flow

Path integration or 'dead reckoning' is the ability to keep track of relative position using self-motion signals that convey information about speed and direction of movement. Most animal species, including humans, exhibit some degree of path integration capability and neurophysiological studies have demonstrated that self-motion signals are sufficient to update internal representations of both position and orientation. In the present study, human subjects were required to monitor their position or orientation on the basis of unstructured optic flowfields. Trials were conducted at different speeds to examine the accuracy of path integration and rates of random error accumulation, and at two different head azimuths to prevent a confounding strategy of position updating based primarily on tracking changes in the angular declination of distant landmarks with respect to the horizon. Participants integrated the speed of visual motion to update accurately a representation of their position and orientation within the environment. Consistent with the characteristics of real-world path integration, errors accumulated linearly with the magnitude of position and orientation estimation. We conclude that coherent optic flowfields provide a sufficient basis for humans to keep track of their position and orientation relative to remembered landmarks.     

The New Generation of Automatic Landmark Detection Systems: Challenges and Guidelines

Abstract

Landmarks are salient objects in an environment. They play an important role in navigation by serving as orientation aids and marking decision points. Recently, there have been several efforts to design methods to automatically designate certain buildings with salient features as landmarks. All of these methodologies consist of similar steps: (a) establishing a neighborhood, usually around an intersection, (b) performing statistical or data mining analysis to find the building with outlier characteristics, and (c) establishing this salient building as the local landmark. Although these advances are significant, we believe that there are still several key issues that need to be fully addressed in order to realize the new generation of Automatic Landmark Detection Systems (ALDSs). Currently, the main shortcomings in the domain of ALDSs is the lack of a thorough and systematic study of attributes of objects that are analyzed to select landmarks, and deficient experimental verification of the benefits of ALDSs to the end users. Unless, these shortcomings are thoroughly addressed, the viability, applicability, and usefulness of ALDSs are uncertain. On the other hand, automatic landmark detection has the potential to be a dynamic, fascinating, and interdisciplinary research topic with wide applicability. Therefore, the goal of this paper is to discuss the current shortcomings in the domain of landmark detection, propose some preliminary solutions, and provide general guidelines for implementation of the new generation of ALDSs. Specifically, we discuss and promote the importance of: (a) widening the types of attributes analyzed in the landmark detection process, (b) weighting each attribute relative to its significance, (c) extending the types of objects considered as landmark candidates beyond just buildings, (d) identifying landmarks outside the vicinity of intersections, (e) identifying false landmarks along routes, and (f) using virtual environments for experiments with ALDSs. Throughout the paper, we discuss several demonstrative examples and experiments to clarify and support the ideas and concepts that are being promoted.     

The acquisition of survey knowledge for local and global landmark configurations under time pressure

The influence of stress states on cognition is widely recognized. However, the manner in which stress affects survey knowledge acquisition is still unresolved. For the present study, we investigated whether survey knowledge acquisition during a stressful task (i.e., under time pressure) is more accurate for the mental representation of global or local landmarks. Participants navigated through virtual cities with a navigation aid and explicit learning instructions for different landmark configurations. Participants’ judgments of relative direction (JRDs) suggest that global landmark configurations were not represented more accurately than local landmark configurations and that survey knowledge acquisition was not impaired under time pressure. In contrast to prior findings, our results indicate the limitations of the utility of global landmarks for spatial knowledge acquisition.     

Risk-taking during wayfinding is modulated by external stressors and personality traits

ABSTRACT

Two experiments examined cue reliance and risk-taking during desktop virtual wayfinding, and how they might be modulated by personality traits and external stressors. Participants navigated a series of virtual buildings and we manipulated the strength of probabilistic cues available to guide turn decisions. Navigators frequently discounted probabilistic cues and instead took risks, particularly when costs were low and potential benefits were high. Risk-taking was predicted by higher sense of direction and lower need for structure. Introducing a time stressor lowered risk-taking, with a higher relative reliance on probability-based information. This was most pronounced in females and those with a high need for structure. Results provide novel evidence that spatial cue reliance is modulated by individual differences and contextual constraints.     

Three dimensional spatial memory and learning in real and virtual environments

Human orientation and spatial cognition partlydepends on our ability to remember sets ofvisual landmarks and imagine their relationshipto us from a different viewpoint. We normallymake large body rotations only about a singleaxis which is aligned with gravity. However,astronauts who try to recognize environmentsrotated in 3 dimensions report that theirterrestrial ability to imagine the relativeorientation of remembered landmarks does noteasily generalize. The ability of humansubjects to learn to mentally rotate a simplearray of six objects around them was studied in1-G laboratory experiments. Subjects weretested in a cubic chamber (n = 73) and aequivalent virtual environment (n = 24),analogous to the interior of a space stationnode module. A picture of an object waspresented at the center of each wall. Subjectshad to memorize the spatial relationships amongthe six objects and learn to predict thedirection to a specific object if their bodywere in a specified 3D orientation. Percentcorrect learning curves and response times weremeasured. Most subjects achieved high accuracyfrom a given viewpoint within 20 trials,regardless of roll orientation, and learned asecond view direction with equal or greaterease. Performance of the subject group thatused a head mounted display/head tracker wasqualitatively similar to that of the secondgroup tested in a physical node simulator. Body position with respect to gravity had asignificant but minor effect on performance ofeach group, suggesting that results may alsoapply to weightless situations. A correlationwas found between task performance measures andconventional paper-and-pencil tests of fieldindependence and 2&3 dimensional figurerotation ability.