TY - JOUR
T1 - An exploratory real-world wayfinding experiment
T2 - A comparison of drivers’ spatial learning with a paper map vs. turn-by-turn audiovisual route guidance
AU - Ben-Elia, Eran
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by a startup grant from the Vice President for Research at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. My sincere gratitude goes to former graduate student Gilad Haviv (M.A) who assisted in data collection and participant administration. Special thanks to Prof. Ro'i Zultan from the Department of Economics at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev for sharing access to the ORSEE system. Ethical review of this study was conducted by the Ethics Committee, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev ? Request No. 141-M ? 7102016. The comments and suggestions of two anonymous Reviewers are highly appreciated.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Author(s)
PY - 2021/3/1
Y1 - 2021/3/1
N2 - Turn-by-turn (TBT) route guidance technology installed on mobile phones is very popular among car drivers for wayfinding purposes. Previous studies examined their effect on spatial knowledge predominantly on pedestrians or in virtual environments. Drivers' spatial knowledge was experimentally compared in two random groups: audiovisual route guidance using the TBT navigation feature of the Google Maps app installed on a mobile phone, and a paper map. Participants drove their own vehicles to a predesignated destination in an unfamiliar residential neighborhood. Spatial knowledge tests (orientation, landmark recognition and route recognition) were subsequently administered. The scores of map-assisted drivers were uncorrelated and, on average, higher in orientation (deviation in direction), landmark recognition and route recognition (error percentage). The landmark recognition scores of drivers assisted by TBT route guidance were significantly lower with a very large effect size. The route recognition scores of drivers assisted by route guidance showed strong correlations with orientation and with landmark recognition scores. Results can be attributed to the differences in cognitive effort required to complete the wayfinding task: unlike memorizing a global map survey, passively following TBT audiovisual instructions does not require drivers to actively encode, transform, and continuously monitor their egocentric position in space. Drivers also showed somewhat poorer performance relative to studies with pedestrians which can be explained by the greater mental effort, compared to wandering on foot, involved in wayfinding while safely driving a rapidly moving vehicle. The future implications of the increasing dependence on mobile navigation technologies are further discussed.
AB - Turn-by-turn (TBT) route guidance technology installed on mobile phones is very popular among car drivers for wayfinding purposes. Previous studies examined their effect on spatial knowledge predominantly on pedestrians or in virtual environments. Drivers' spatial knowledge was experimentally compared in two random groups: audiovisual route guidance using the TBT navigation feature of the Google Maps app installed on a mobile phone, and a paper map. Participants drove their own vehicles to a predesignated destination in an unfamiliar residential neighborhood. Spatial knowledge tests (orientation, landmark recognition and route recognition) were subsequently administered. The scores of map-assisted drivers were uncorrelated and, on average, higher in orientation (deviation in direction), landmark recognition and route recognition (error percentage). The landmark recognition scores of drivers assisted by TBT route guidance were significantly lower with a very large effect size. The route recognition scores of drivers assisted by route guidance showed strong correlations with orientation and with landmark recognition scores. Results can be attributed to the differences in cognitive effort required to complete the wayfinding task: unlike memorizing a global map survey, passively following TBT audiovisual instructions does not require drivers to actively encode, transform, and continuously monitor their egocentric position in space. Drivers also showed somewhat poorer performance relative to studies with pedestrians which can be explained by the greater mental effort, compared to wandering on foot, involved in wayfinding while safely driving a rapidly moving vehicle. The future implications of the increasing dependence on mobile navigation technologies are further discussed.
KW - Driving
KW - Navigation
KW - Paper map
KW - Route guidance
KW - Spatial learning
KW - Wayfinding
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85097793392&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.trip.2020.100280
DO - 10.1016/j.trip.2020.100280
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85097793392
SN - 2590-1982
VL - 9
JO - Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives
JF - Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives
M1 - 100280
ER -