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TopIntroduction
Traditional metric maps are developed through a data-driven approach where large amount of data are presented for various purposes. Human cognitive maps, however, are developed through a cognitively conceptual approach which builds on coarse, fragmented, and distorted spatial knowledge and refine over time (Klippel, et al., 2005). Studies on schematic maps, a similar form to sketch maps with simplified and distorted information, show that using fragmented, schematic, or distorted information on maps (while retaining local network structure) does not degrade the wayfinding performance as well as the development of spatial knowledge (Meilinger, et al., 2007). Recent studies (Chipofya, et al., 2011; J. Wang, et al., 2011) on alignment of sketch maps and metric maps have demonstrated the feasibility of using sketch maps as a reliable source to visualize survey knowledge of a local environment. In this study, we empirically assess navigational directions given in both forms of sketch maps and verbal descriptions in three aspects: orientation, street topology and sequential order. The results demonstrate the advantage and reliability of using sketch maps for navigation over verbal descriptions.
In this collaborative effort, the study initiates the understanding of how sketch maps represent spatial objects and their relationships, as well as implications to the design of maps for navigation. Specifically, we address the following two research questions:
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What are the pertinent aspects of sketch maps that are keen to orienting and directing wayfinders?
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What are the main differences between directions given in the form of sketch maps and those given in the form of verbal descriptions?
In the remaining of this paper, we introduce the background and related work that shed light on using sketch maps for navigation, the design and methodology of our experiment, the preliminary results, and the conclusions and future directions.
TopSketch Maps
Cognitive maps are mental models that encompass the internal processes enabling people to acquire and operate information about their environment (Downs & Stea, 1973). Researchers in environmental cognition have depended largely on individuals’ hand-drawn sketch maps as externalizations of cognitive maps of their daily environments. Blades (1990, p. 327) carried out an experiment on sketch maps and found out that “the same subject will consistently produce the same map”. This result indicates that sketch maps are a reliable method for environmental representations.