Identifying what constitutes complexity perception of decision points during indoor route guidance

Abstract

To be able to design indoor wayfinding systems that adhere better to the needs of the users, user perception on complexity needs to be examined and linked to user characteristics and decision point characteristics. To identify how these characteristics influence perception, an online survey is executed in which participants had to indicate how complex they found a decision point, while interpreting a route instruction. The results show that complexity ratings depend both on user characteristics and on the function of the decision point. Decision points to change levels, start or end a route and to take turns each received significantly different complexity ratings. Isovist and visibility graph analysis characteristics of these decision points show that the first two actions were perceived as more complex when they took place in a narrow hallway, while the third action was perceived as more complex in a convex space. The results of this study can be used in the design of an adaptive wayfinding system that adapts the route instructions to the perceived decision point complexity. This adaptation will adhere better to the needs of the users compared to an adaptation based on solely theoretical complexity.

A Gamification-Based Approach on Indoor Wayfinding Research

“…In the shallow spaces, on the other hand, it seems there was no noticeable variation in the navigation velocity influenced by the space syntax, so the participants mainly maintained a constant navigation velocity. This interpretation is in line with the findings from a study by De Cock et al [12], in which the turns in the convex spaces are perceived as more complex than the turns in the narrow corridors. This might furthermore explain why the navigation velocity at the infrastructural landmarks was significantly lower than in the objects category, since the former are mainly located in the convex spaces (mean MVD of this category = 6,19) and the latter in the narrow hallways (mean MVD of this category = 5,37).…”

“…To conclude, this research has shown that wayfinding might be harder at the deep convex spaces than it is in the shallow convex spaces. This complies with the findings of other research on indoor wayfinding, whereby more integrated spaces with high visual access were rated as less complex [12,[38][39][40]. Despite the strong impact of player movement complexity, determined in the previous steps of this study, it can thus be said that decision point characteristics, landmarks, and building layout also seemed to have an important influence on indoor wayfinding in this case study.…”

“…In general, the navigation velocity of the participants was higher in the categories single-turn and multiple-turn compared to the navigation velocity at the decision points at the start and end of a level. Although research by De Cock et al [12] shows that starting and ending a route is less complex and, therefore, a higher navigation velocity is expected, this study shows rather the opposite. Further analysis demonstrates that the low navigation velocity was mostly caused by the start decision points.…”

“…In different studies, the effects of gender, age, and familiarity with the building have been applied to investigate the differences between user groups. For example, the study by De Cock et al [12] includes personal factors and relates decision point characteristics to the perceived complexity of indoor wayfinding.…”

Retracing evacuation strategy: A virtual reality game-based investigation into the influence of building’s spatial configuration in an emergency

“…120° instead of 360°) were used (Dalton, 2003;Meilinger, Franz & Bülthoff, 2012). It has been demonstrated that isovists may directly predict navigation behavior (Franz & Wiener, 2005;Meilinger et al, 2012), and that they correlate with perception of complex decision points (De Cock et al, 2020) and with human comprehension of enclosed spaces (Dosen & Ostwald, 2016). The size and shape of isovists even have subconscious effects on our everyday choices, such as choosing a table in a restaurant, where to wait to be recognized by a friend in a public space, which street to go down to avoid being mugged, or even which side of the bed to sleep on (Benedikt & McElhinney, 2019).…”