Pedestrian navigation and GPS deteriorations: user behavior and adaptation strategies

Mobile pedestrian navigation apps depend largely on position information, usually provided by a Global Position System (GPS). However, GPS information quality can vary due to several factors. In this paper, we thus investigate how this affects users via a field study (N=21) that exposed pedestrians to no GPS coverage, low accuracy and delayed GPS information during navigation. We found that their navigation performance, their trust in the apps and their experience were all negatively affected. We also identified user strategies to deal with GPS-deteriorated situations and user needs. Based on our findings, we derive several design implications for pedestrian navigation app to better deal with GPS-deteriorated situations. In particular, we propose four adaptation strategies that an app can use to support users in GPS-deteriorated situations. Our findings can benefit designers and developers of pedestrian navigation apps.

[1]  Martin Pielot,et al.  Tactile Wayfinder: Comparison of Tactile Waypoint Navigation with Commercial Pedestrian Navigation Systems , 2010, Pervasive.

[2]  Karl Rehrl,et al.  Pedestrian navigation with augmented reality, voice and digital map: final results from an in situ field study assessing performance and user experience , 2014, J. Locat. Based Serv..

[3]  K. Willis,et al.  Mind the Gap: Mobile Applications and Wayfinding , 2005 .

[4]  Yin Chen,et al.  FM-based indoor localization , 2012, MobiSys '12.

[5]  Stephan Winter,et al.  Urban granularities—a data structure for cognitively ergonomic route directions , 2009, GeoInformatica.

[6]  Wolfgang Effelsberg,et al.  A study on user acceptance of error visualization techniques , 2008, Mobiquitous 2008.

[7]  Stephan Winter,et al.  Including landmarks in routing instructions , 2010, J. Locat. Based Serv..

[8]  Bill N. Schilit,et al.  Place Lab: Device Positioning Using Radio Beacons in the Wild , 2005, Pervasive.

[9]  Mary Hegarty,et al.  Assessing the effectiveness of different visualizations for judgments of positional uncertainty , 2016, Int. J. Geogr. Inf. Sci..

[10]  Shih-Hau Fang.  Cross-Provider Cooperation for Improved Network-Based Localization , 2013, IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology.

[11]  Anthony E. Richardson,et al.  Development of a self-report measure of environmental spatial ability. , 2002 .

[12]  Mikkel Baun Kjærgaard,et al.  Sensing and Classifying Impairments of GPS Reception on Mobile Devices , 2011, Pervasive.

[13]  Alycia M. Hund,et al.  What constitutes effective wayfinding directions: The interactive role of descriptive cues and memory demands , 2014 .

[14]  Luca Chittaro,et al.  Pedestrian navigation with degraded GPS signal: investigating the effects of visualizing position uncertainty , 2011, Mobile HCI.

[15]  Wolfgang Wahlster,et al.  A resource-adaptive mobile navigation system , 2002, IUI '02.

[16]  Bernt Schiele,et al.  Dead reckoning from the pocket - An experimental study , 2010, 2010 IEEE International Conference on Pervasive Computing and Communications (PerCom).

[17]  Stephan Winter,et al.  Structural Salience of Landmarks for Route Directions , 2005, COSIT.

[18]  Kris Luyten,et al.  O brother, where art thou located?: raising awareness of variability in location tracking for users of location-based pervasive applications , 2012, J. Locat. Based Serv..

[19]  Supun Samarasekera,et al.  Multi-sensor navigation algorithm using monocular camera, IMU and GPS for large scale augmented reality , 2012, 2012 IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR).

[20]  M. Denis,et al.  Language and spatial cognition: comparing the roles of landmarks and street names in route instructions , 2004 .

[21]  Mikkel Baun Kjærgaard,et al.  PosQ: Unsupervised Fingerprinting and Visualization of GPS Positioning Quality , 2010, MobiCASE.

[22]  Paul U. Lee,et al.  Wayfinding choremes - a language for modeling conceptual route knowledge , 2005, J. Vis. Lang. Comput..

[23]  Roy H. Campbell,et al.  MiddleWhere: A Middleware for Location Awareness in Ubiquitous Computing Applications , 2004, Middleware.

[24]  Ding-Bing Lin,et al.  Mobile location estimation based on differences of signal attenuations for GSM systems , 2003, IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society International Symposium. Digest. Held in conjunction with: USNC/CNC/URSI North American Radio Sci. Meeting (Cat. No.03CH37450).

[25]  Michael Rohs,et al.  Cruise Control for Pedestrians: Controlling Walking Direction using Electrical Muscle Stimulation , 2015, CHI.

[26]  Robert E. Roth,et al.  Global Landscapes: Teaching Globalization through Responsive Mobile Map Design , 2018 .

[27]  Xin Pan,et al.  ARIEL: automatic wi-fi based room fingerprinting for indoor localization , 2012, UbiComp.

[28]  Martin Raubal,et al.  GazeNav: Gaze-Based Pedestrian Navigation , 2015, MobileHCI.

[29]  Sourav Bhattacharya,et al.  A grid-based algorithm for on-device GSM positioning , 2010, UbiComp.

[30]  Sabine Geldof,et al.  Using Natural Language Generation in Automatic Route Description , 2005, J. Res. Pract. Inf. Technol..

[31]  Feng Zhao,et al.  A reliable and accurate indoor localization method using phone inertial sensors , 2012, UbiComp.

[32]  Robert Hardy,et al.  Design, implementation and evaluation of a novel public display for pedestrian navigation: the rotating compass , 2009, CHI.

[33]  Ronald T. Azuma,et al.  The Most Important Challenge Facing Augmented Reality , 2016, PRESENCE: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments.

[34]  Martin Raubal,et al.  Maps, vibration or gaze? Comparison of novel navigation assistance in indoor and outdoor environments , 2017, J. Locat. Based Serv..

[35]  Simon A. Dobson,et al.  LOC8: A Location Model and Extensible Framework for Programming with Location , 2010, IEEE Pervasive Computing.

[36]  Yuwei Chen,et al.  Human Behavior Cognition Using Smartphone Sensors , 2013, Sensors.

[37]  Kai-Florian Richter,et al.  Simplest Instructions: Finding Easy-to-Describe Routes for Navigation , 2008, GIScience.

[38]  Jesús Favela,et al.  Uncertainty Management in Context-Aware Applications: Increasing Usability and User Trust , 2011, Wirel. Pers. Commun..

[39]  Kris Luyten,et al.  A Unified Scalable Model of User Localisation with Uncertainty Awareness for Large-scale Pervasive Environments , 2011, 2011 Fifth International Conference on Next Generation Mobile Applications, Services and Technologies.

[40]  Eyal de Lara,et al.  An Exploration of Location Error Estimation , 2007, UbiComp.

[41]  Simon A. Dobson,et al.  Resolving uncertainty in context integration and abstraction: context integration and abstraction , 2008, ICPS '08.

[42]  Christian Kray,et al.  Visualizing Location Uncertainty on Mobile Devices , 2018, Proc. ACM Interact. Mob. Wearable Ubiquitous Technol..

[43]  Jana Kosecka,et al.  Landmark-Based Pedestrian Navigation with Enhanced Spatial Reasoning , 2009, Pervasive.

[44]  I. Delikostidis,et al.  Geo-Identifi cation and Pedestrian Navigation with Geo-Mobile Applications: How Do Users Proceed? , 2009 .