Despite considerable recent interest in research related to wayfinding and navigation of pedestrians, the needs and preferences of people with disabilities (PWDs) are not yet fully addressed. Some of still unaddressed issues are related to understanding the different mobility challenges of PWDs, while others are related to the accessibility of routes and navigation systems/services. Emergence o...

Results indicated that although the majority of subjects reported no problems with wayfinding and orientation in campus buildings, 9% of respondents reported becoming lost often or almost always, 14% have been quite or totally lost, and 8% have experienced frequent and severe disorientation. In one building, almost 40% of users reported having become quite or totally lost. Comparisons between r...

This is an extended version of a paper published in the ECAI conference (Guesgen and Shotbolt 2004). In this paper, a system is proposed in which case-based reasoning principles are applied to the wayfinding problem for computer games. As case-based reasoning is thought to mimic aspects of human thinking, applying this methodology may provide more convincing non-player character behaviour. Addi...

A global increase in aging population, combined with a growing number of people with dementia, creates new challenges to develop guiding technology for people with memory disturbances in their daily activities. In this study we have tested the prototype of a wayfinding aid using predefined routes. The orientation advice was given through three modalities, visual, audio and tactile signals, two ...

Wayfinding is an important aspect that should be considered by tourist park managers when allocating resources and facilities to aid tourists navigating their way through a park. This paper discusses the influence of individual differences such as age, gender, travel group, and familiarity with the environment towards the wayfinding decision making process and physical movement. A case study wa...

Based on Silverman and Eals’ hunter-gatherer theory of the origin of sex-specific spatial attributes, the present research sought to identify the evolved mechanisms involved in hunting that contribute to the dimorphism. The focus of these studies was the relationship between three-dimensional mental rotations, the spatial test showing the largest and most reliable sex difference favoring males,...

For the purpose of emergency evacuation design, reliable data on the occupants of an infrastructure are necessary. Also, the occupants’ wayfinding and the route choice strategies of evacuees should be considered as these factors account for part of the evacuation time. In this paper, two field studies are reported: First, passenger flows and occupancies were counted on all three levels of a com...

This paper introduces a partial theory of design for locomotion. The goal of the theory is to help generate actual designs by informing design content. Assuming that locomotion is always in service of the cognitive task of wayfinding, the theory relates cognitive constructs of wayfinding problem-solving and decision-making to features of locomotional design. Specifically, the theory suggests th...

This exploratory study investigated the effects of map design, individual differences, and environmental cues on wayfinding performance in an outdoor recreational area. Six maps, with three contour representations and two color codes, were used to determine how map design influences wayfinding. Four individual differences: gender, experience in map usage (experience vs. novice), handedness, and...