Investigation of Landmark-Based Pedestrian Navigation Processes with a Mobile Eye Tracking System

Eye movements provide information on the mental processing of landmark objects while navigating. The present study investigates landmark-based navigation by pedestrians in real world environments using mobile eye tracking technology. The goal of the study is to identify whether landmarks on maps optimize the navigation procedure and the usage of a map, and imprint the cognitive map sustainably. Two independent test groups navigated through unfamiliar urban environment and were subsequently interviewed. One group had landmark visualized on a map as an additional aid, the control group did not. The results show that objects that are focused longer and more frequently transfer onto the mental map. Upon recalling objects present in the surroundings, on average 8.3 landmarks were named per interview by the landmark group, compared to 7.0 for the control group. For the control group, the usage and duration of observation of the map was thereby approximately 1.7 times greater than for the landmark group. Following the memory test, the participants in the landmark group remembered significantly more objects and located these correctly as compared to the control group. In summary, the results show that the visualization of landmarks on maps optimizes the use of maps for navigation, whereby more landmark objects transfer to long-term memory and the mental map.

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