The effect of egocentric body movements on users' navigation performance and spatial memory in zoomable user interfaces

Abstract

We present two experiments examining the impact of navigation techniques on users' navigation performance and spatial memory in a zoomable user interface (ZUI). The first experiment with 24 participants compared the effect of egocentric body movements with traditional multi-touch navigation. The results indicate a 47% decrease in path lengths and a 34% decrease in task time in favor of egocentric navigation, but no significant effect on users' spatial memory immediately after a navigation task. However, an additional second experiment with 8 participants revealed such a significant increase in performance of long-term spatial memory: The results of a recall task administered after a 15-minute distractor task indicate a significant advantage of 27% for egocentric body movements in spatial memory. Furthermore, a questionnaire about the subjects' workload revealed that the physical demand of the egocentric navigation was significantly higher but there was less mental demand.

User studies in cartography: opportunities for empirical research on interactive maps and visualizations

“…Scholars in HCI increasingly are turning their attention to interactive maps (e.g. Hecht et al, 2013;Rädle, Jetter, Butscher, & Reiterer, 2013;Schöning et al, 2008), again pointing to an increased mutual influence as maps become interactive and move online or to mobile devices.…”

Memory in Motion

“…Although body panning did not result in an increased navigation performance, participants performed better with regard to object location memory. Similarly, Rädle et al [22] investigated the effect of egocentric movements in peephole navigation of zoomable peephole interfaces, concluding with a positive effect of egocentric body movements on spatial memory.…”

“…We used a well-established and validated task [11,13,15,16,17,22] consisting of a navigation phase and a subsequent object location memory phase (see the video in supplemental materials). Using one of the input modalities, a canvas could be navigated using panning operations.…”

“…Also, previous work suggests that different aspects of embodiment (e.g. touch vs. mouse [11,28], body vs. touch panning [13], body movement [22], direct vs. indirect touch [20]) positively affect spatial memory performance. However, existing studies mostly compare input modalities that differ profoundly in their interaction techniques, not explaining how the underlying aspects of embodiment influence spatial memory.…”

Exploiting Spatial Memory and Navigation Performance in Dynamic Peephole Environments

“…In 2012 Rädle et al [11] compared egocentric navigation with traditional touch navigation in terms of navigation performance, spatial memory, and subjective workload. Their study revealed an effect on navigation performance and long term spatial memory in favor of egocentric navigation.…”