Navigation and orientation in 3D user interfaces: the impact of navigation aids and landmarks

This study examined how users acquire spatial cognition in 3D user interfaces depicting an on-screen virtual environment. The study was divided into two main phases: learning and a test of learning transfer. The learning phase consisted of participants directly navigating (search for objects) in the on-screen virtual environment using one of two navigation aids: a visual map or a route list. In addition, there were two virtual environments, one with landmarks and the other without landmarks. Learning transfer was examined by testing both navigation and orientation tasks (relative-direction pointing) in the environment without the use of the navigation aids. Findings show that while the initial navigation with a map appeared to be harder, with longer navigation times and more navigation steps than with a route list, this difference became insignificant at the end of the learning phase. Moreover, performance degradation upon removal of the navigation aids was less for those that navigated with a map as compared to route list. A similar pattern was found for the impact of landmarks, Initial navigation with landmarks appeared to be harder than without landmarks, but this difference became insignificant at the end of the learning phase. Moreover, performance degradation upon removal of the navigation aid was less for those that navigated with landmarks as compared to no landmarks. Finally, the combined impact of both the navigation aid used in the learning and the presence of landmarks was primarily evident in the orientation task. Relative direction pointing was better for those who learnt with a map without landmarks, or with route list with landmarks. The findings are discussed in terms of the impact of navigations aids and landmarks on the acquisition of route and survey knowledge in spatial cognition. In addition, some gender differences are discussed in terms of different strategies in spatial cognition acquisition.