wayfinding

The effect of the configuration and the interior design of a virtual weightless space station on human spatial orientation
＜Acta Astronautica, No. 56, pp. 1005-1016, 2005＞　 Hirofumi Aoki, Ryuzo Ohno, Takao Yamaguchi
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In a virtual weightless environment, subjects’ orientation skills were studied to examine what kind of cognitive errors people make when they moved through the interior space of virtual space stations and what kind of visual information effectively decreases those errors. Subjects wearing a head-mounted display moved from one end to the other end in space station-like routes constructed of rectangular and cubical modules, and did Pointing and Modeling tasks. In Experiment 1, conﬁgurations of the routes were changed with such variables as the number of bends, the number of embedding planes, and the number of planes with respect to the body posture. The results indicated that spatial orientation ability was relevant to the variables and that orientation errors were explained by two causes. One of these was that the place, the direction, and the sequence of turns were incorrect. The other was that subjects did not recognize the rotation of the frame of reference, especially when they turned in pitch direction rather than in yaw. In Experiment 2, the effect of the interior design was examined by testing three design settings. Wall colors that showed the allocentric frame of reference and the different interior design of vertical and horizontal modules were effective; however, there was a limit to the effectiveness in complicated conﬁgurations.

A Study of Orientation in a Zero Gravity Environment by means of Virtual Reality Simulation
＜Journal of Gravitational Physiology, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 93-94, 2000＞　 Hirofumi Aoki, Takao Yamaguchi, Ryuzo Ohno
This study intends to clarify how people acquire visual information and recognize their orientation in a zero gravity environment. An experiment was conducted using virtual reality. In Study 1, each subject was given tasks in which a subject moves through virtual reality from the central room into one of six rooms such as operation room and habitation room. Textures composed by alphabetical letters were stuck on the six surrounding surfaces of the central cubic room. Visual information of the cubic room and the degree-of-freedom of motion were varied, and the subjects’ performance was measured. To some extent, the experiment produced a subjective sense of weightlessness. Moreover, we identiﬁed different strategies of spatial cognition and behavior under conditions of virtual weightlessness. In Study 2, subjects’ orientation skills were tested with pointing and orienting tasks. Subjects followed virtual routes that were constructed of three or four rectangular modules that were connected by the cubical modules. Each subject moved from one end to the other end, and pointed to the start point and reproduced the experienced route using a scale model. The shapes of the routes were changed systematically. Analyses of the results indicate that the ability of special cognition changes with such variables as the number of comers of routes, the geometric number of ﬁelds and the number of fields with consideration to the body posture.

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Effective Visual Clue on Recovering Orientation in an Interior Space

＜Proceedings of the 5th EBRA International Symposium for Environment-Behavior Studies, Shanghai, China, 155-160, 2002＞　

Masashi Soeda, Ryuzo Ohno

Our previous study revealed that people tended to lose orientation after such vertical traveling as stairs, elevators and escalators, and that some of the subjects could recover it by environmental information. Although the result suggested that the source of information for recovering differed with person and space, we could not specify effective information.
The present research intends to clarify influential visual information on recovering orientation using a visual simulator that enables a subject who wears a Head Mounted Display to walk through and to look around in a model space freely. Three settings of scale models of a two-story library were used in the experiment. In each setting, subjects were led from a start point on the first floor (information desk) to a destination on the second floor (a bookshelf) via elevator, and then they were asked to go back to the start point by themselves. In order to provide a possible visual clue for the subjects to find the start point, the scene that the subjects saw when they get off the elevator on the first floor was differentiated with left and right side by the following conditions: A) windows, B) walls with different colors (no windows), C) walls with same colors and same finishing (no differentiation). 46 graduate students were enrolled in the experiment.
The results indicates that more than 90% of the subjects could find the start point in the setting with windows, whereas 60% of the subjects succeeded in the setting with walls with different colors and less than 50% did in setting with no differentiated visual information. The interview conducted after the experiment reveals that more than 90% of the subjects used the windows to identify where the start point is, however, less than 60% used different colors on the wall. It also shows that almost all the subjects who did not use visual information mentioned above failed to find the start point. These results show that visual information provided by spatial elements helps people to recover orientation in the space, and that the windows are more effective for recovering orientation than changes of colors on walls are. The cause is considered to be the different characteristics of the visual information. Windows give spatial expansion, a view to outdoors and brightness to interior space. These characteristics of windows, which walls do not have, are considered to serve as an effective clue for orientation in an interior space. These results imply that it is important for legible interior space to arrange windows at the place where people tend to lose orientation.

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Adjustment of spatial orientation by visual information on walking on a pathway
＜Summaries of Technical Paper of Annual Meeting of Architectural Institute of Japan, Sep. 2001＞　 Kinuko Yamamoto, Masashi Soeda, Ryuzo Ohno

		As a supplement to the former researches on wayfinding using the visual simulator, the present study examines how actual body movement affect the sense of orientation. A series of full-scale pathway was created to test how sense of orientation is maintained after traversing multiple turns of various angles. The results of experiment draw three conclusions: First, disorientation occurred after multiple turns cannot be explained by accumulating each error occurred after traversing single-turn. Second, sense of orientation can be maintained by referring to such visual information as the clues to direction and position in a space, and to the physical environmental features that help to construct cognitive framework. Third, the ability of using the above information for maintaining sense of orientation is varied among individual subjects.

The Influence of Staying and Moving Pedestrians in Wayfinding
＜Summaries of Technical Paper of Annual Meeting of Architectural Institute of Japan, Sep. 2000＞　 Akihiko Osawa, Hirofumi Aoki, Masashi Soeda, Ryuzo Ohno

		The purpose of this study is to reveal the effects of pedestrians as movable elements in wayfinding by a series of experiments using visual simulation generated by computer graphics. The results showed that people on the street are used as a clue for wayfinding., and that they have two functions. One is a positive function that pedestrians provide an effective clue and help to memorize a place where the subject exists. Another is a negative one that a subject who memorizes a route depending only on existence of pedestrians loses the way when they disappear and they play as a visual noise which disturbs memorizing spatial characteristics.

What kinds of information do people utilize on wayfinding ?

＜Proceedings of the 30th annual conference of the Environmental Design Research Association,　Pp.268, 1999.6＞　
Masashi Soeda, Ryuzo Ohno

An experiment was conducted to clarify what kinds of information people utilize on wayfinding under several settings, in an actual interior space and also in a simulated scale-model space. In both situations, subjects were lead to a room through a corridor and were asked to do a sham task there, and then they were asked to return the way they came. In each setting, the view from the doorway of the room into the corridor was differentiated from the right to the left sides by controlling such environmental elements as brightness, the ceiling height, depth of the corridor, color of the wall and location of elemental objects (posters and a plant).In actual full-scale setting, while subjects were engaged in a sham task inside the room, the environmental conditions of the corridor were changed. Upon exiting the room, environmental elements had been moved in opposite locations. Subjects' behavior just after leaving the room was noted and reasons for the route choice were interviewed later.Results showed that while most people rely on their memory to return, some people rely on visual information on the spot. This also reveled that the redundancy of various kinds of environmental information is essential for wayfinding.

Wayfinding in Cases with Vertical Motion
＜Proceedings of MERA 97: International Conference on Environment-Behavior Studies for 21st Century, Pp.559-564, 1997.11＞　 Masashi Soeda, Noriko Kushiyama, Ryuzo Ohno

		This study intends to clarify the influence of vertical traveling on spatial cognition and wayfinding performance. Wayfinding experiments were conducted in campus buildings and a department store. A pointing task was also conducted in another building in the campus. The result shows that people tend to lose orientation after vertical traveling, but some of them can recover it by environmental information, and that traveling from one floor to another, people tend to assume the new floor plan depending on the former plan. It also shows that the source of information for wayfinding differs with person and space, successful subjects tend to get information not only from such elemental features as objects and signs but also such ambient features as direction and configuration of spaces. Full paper ⇒PDF file

A study of wayfinding strategies using a visual simulator
＜Architectural and urban simulation techniques in research and education -Proceedings of 3rd EAEA conference-, Pp.87-92, 1997.8＞　 Masashi Soeda, Ryuzo Ohno

Paper ⇒PDF file		This study investigates the relation between wayfinding performance and the strategies which are expected to differ with individuals. Three scale models (1/150) of an identical maze pattern each with different visual information were used in the simulator which was designed to allow a subject to move through a model space and visually experience a travel sequence. Three conditions of visual information were : (1) no characteristics, with monotonous surfaces and uniform width of streets, (2) variations in spatial arrangements, with changes of street width and corner shapes, (3) symbolic information, provided by letters and photos of newspaper on the walls. Each of three male and three female subjects was first asked to memorize the route by viewing a predetermined continuous sequence of model streets , as shown on the screen, and were then asked to take the instructed route. This procedure was repeated until the subject could reach the end of the route. After that, they were asked to draw a cognitive map of the route. This series of experiment was conducted five times: 5, 12, 36, 128 days from the first experiment. On and after the second experiment, the subjects were asked to explain the route verbally at the beginning of the experiment. The result indicates that some people shift their wayfinding strategies reasonably according to the visual information on the route, and other people tend to rely on mainly one type of information to memorize a route at any situation. It also showed that people can take the right route by obtaining elemental information on the spot even if they have no clear memory in advance.

Street-scape and Way-finding Performance
＜Proceedings of the 2nd EAEA Conference, pp. 111-120, Sep. 1995>
Ryuzo Ohno, Koichi Sonoda, Masashi Soeda
		The hypothesis that way-finding performance depends on the visual characteristics of the street-scape was investigated by an experiment using a user-controlled space-sequence simulator which was designed to allow a subject to move through a model space and visually experience a travel sequence. Three scale models (1/150) of an identical maze pattern each with a different street-scape were used in the simulator. The three types of street-scapes were: (1) no characteristics, with monotonous surfaces, (2) each corner distinguished with a different building, and (3) streets furnished with trees, columns or fences. Each subject was first asked to memorize the route by viewing a predetermined continuous sequence of model streets, as shown on the screen, then asked to take the instructed route. This procedure was repeated until a subject successfully reached the end of the route. Subjects were allowed to try up to five times. After the experiment, the subjects were asked draw a cognitive map of the route. Three male and three female subjects were tested in each of three street types. An analysis of the results generally supported the hypothesis that a route in streets with significant visual characteristics was easier to memorize, although there was a large difference in performance between subjects. With an analysis of the cognitive maps drawn by the subjects, it was noted that subjects seemed to rely more on incoming visual information on the changing scene than on structured knowledge of the route, as is emphasized in conventional theory of way-finding. Paper -> PDF