Spatial Cognition: The Role of Landmark, Route, and Survey Knowledge in Human and Robot Navigation

The paper gives a brief overview of the interdisciplinary DFG priority program on spatial cognition and presents one specific theme which was the topic of a recent workshop in Göttingen in some more detail. A taxonomy of landmark, route, and survey knowledge for navigation tasks proposed at the workshop is presented. Different ways of acquiring route knowledge are discussed. The importance of employing different spatial reference systems for carrying out navigation tasks is emphasized. Basic mechanisms of spatial memory in human and animal navigation are presented. After outlining the fundamental representational issues, methodological issues in robot and human navigation are discussed. Three applications of spatial cognition research in navigation tasks are given to exemplify both technological relevance and human impact of basic research