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.     

Place learning in humans: The role of distance and direction information

Although the process of establishing a memoryof a location is necessary for navigation,relatively little is known about theinformation that humans use when forming placememories. We examined the relative importanceof distance and angular information aboutlandmarks in place learning. Participantsrepeatedly learned a target location inrelation to three distinct landmarks in animmersive computer-generated (virtual)environment. Later, during testing, theyattempted to return to that location. Theconfigurations of landmarks used during testingwere altered from those participants learned inorder to separate the effects of metricdistance information and information aboutinter-landmark angles. In general,participants showed greater reliance ondistance information than angular information. This reliance was affected by nonmetricrelationships present during learning, as wellas by the degree to which the learnedenvironment contained right or straightangles.     

适用于深空探测器的时间线转移路标启发式规划方法

针对深空探测器各子系统状态并行及约束耦合的特点,设计了最大转移代价计算方法,并在此基础上提出了时间线路标提取方法。然后,针对路标集合重复计算耗时长的问题,提出了路标增量式搜索算法实现路标集合动态快速更新,并进一步结合最大目标节点筛选策略提出了时间线转移路标启发式规划方法。仿真结果表明,时间线转移路标启发式规划方法能够有效减少冗余规划步数,提高规划求解效率。     

Collaborative Navigation in an Unfamiliar Environment with People Having Different Spatial Aptitudes

This study addressed the issue of collaborative navigation by examining the types of information communicated in the processes of direction giving and receiving between people who guided each other simultaneously to a destination over the cell phone in a novel environment. When paired with a partner whose sense of direction differed greatly from their own, people found the collaboration difficult and took a longer time to verbally direct the partner to the destination. Landmarks that people used in giving navigational instructions differed depending on sense of direction. People with a good sense of direction adjusted route directions to their partners' wayfinding ability. Results from a detailed qualitative analysis of participants' verbal protocols and implications for personalized navigation tools are discussed.     

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.     

Landmarks on the move: Producing and understanding references to moving landmarks

There is a general agreement that landmarks in route directions should be perceptually salient and stable objects. Yet, other attributes, such as (animated) motion, can also attract visual attention and make entities salient. In the present study, we investigate if and when speakers refer to moving entities in route directions and how listeners evaluate such instructions. We asked speakers to watch short videos of different crossroads with and without moving landmarks and give directions to listeners, who in turn had to choose a street on which to continue (Experiment 1) or choose the instruction they most preferred among three route directions (Experiment 2). Results reveal that speakers mentioned moving entities, especially when the trajectory was informative for the place where a turn should be taken (Experiment 1). Listeners had no problem understanding instructions with moving landmarks (Experiment 1). Yet, participants chose instructions with stable landmarks more often (Experiment 2). These results are discussed in relation to automatic route directions generation.     

On early cognitive mapping

In this paper we examine the nature of theearly cognitive map – the beginnings of acognitive map formed from one's earlyimpressions of the environment one is in. Twodistinct paradigms have emerged from ourstudies of what information is initially identified in a cognitive map. The first, which weterm a space-based approach, emphasises makingexplicit the spatial extent of the currentlocal environment. The second emphasises makingexplicit the relationships between objects inthe local environment and we call this anobject-based approach. For both paradigms weexamine the psychological literature to findsupport for the approach and the roboticists'attempts at implementing the idea. We arguethat a space-based approach is the moreappropriate way to compute an early cognitivemap. In particular, we find that Siegel andWhite's (1975) object-based hypothesis, whichstates that the developmental progression of acognitive map is from landmark to route tosurvey map, is not supported. The space-basedparadigm underpins our own work in this areaand we outline our own space-based theory forcomputing an early cognitive map.     

Wayfinding Through Orientation

Dominant approaches in computer-assisted wayfinding support adhere to the deeply problematic principles of turn-by-turn navigation. In this article, we suggest a new approach called “Wayfinding Through Orientation,” which supports the acquisition of spatial knowledge and cognitive mapping for advancing the user’s spatial orientation. Being oriented on one’s way is a prerequisite to enabling people to verify instructions and to incorporate new spatial information into their existing knowledge structure. In three studies described in this article we first present empirical evidence that people can be supported in survey knowledge acquisition through suitable wayfinding instructions. Consequently, we explore orientation information in human wayfinding instructions. Finally, we outline how orientation information can be communicated within a prototypically implemented navigation assistance system.     

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.     

一种地外天体路标图像的稀疏化表征方法

摘要： 针对用于地外天体着陆视觉导航的路标图像信息存在的计算量大和占用存储空间大等问题,提出一种路标图像的稀疏化表征方法.引入着陆路标图像的尺度估计和尺度变换,采用Harris 算法提取路标特征点,改进了FREAK特征描述子用以稀疏化表征天体路标信息;并针对图像旋转、尺度变化、图像噪声和尺度估计误差4种外界干扰,仿真对比改进算法与原FREAK算法、SURF算法的性能.仿真结果表明：提出的算法大幅减少计算量和特征描述子所占用的存储空间,同时能够正确匹配到更多的路标特征,鲁棒性更好,更适合地外天体着陆任务应用.