Ann Vanclooster

Combining Indoor and Outdoor Navigation: The Current Approach of Route Planners

This paper studies the use of indoor infrastructures for navigation in several currently available route planners. In the context of an increasing dependence on positioning and navigation tools, a shift has taken place from solely outdoor applications to the indoor environment. Although location based services and indoor positioning techniques may have gotten increasing attention from research and commercial point of view, ubiquitous indoor navigation systems are not yet available on the market. With people moving seamlessly from indoor to outdoor, systems that integrate navigation in both will be the next challenge in navigational research. This paper contributes to this integration of the notion of indoor and outdoor space by studying its impact on route planners. A review of various case studies in multiple route planners has been carried out which reveal different aspects and requirements for the indoor-outdoor connection in way finding. Currently, mostly data constraints prevent the optimal use of all navigation routes. Additional problems were discovered with address matching methodologies influencing the exit choice of buildings (leading in some cases to sub optimal routing). Recommendations are made for future enhancements based on the product to market implications to come to a better integration of indoor with outdoor infrastructures.

Thinking aloud in search of landmark characteristics in an indoor environment

The last decade has seen an increase in the attention towards indoor space and its applications. Within this research topic, landmarks play an important role as these distinct objects exert important functions in the context of navigation and in the construction of a cognitive model of an environment. However, compared to outdoor research, little research has been conducted related to indoor landmarks and their specific characteristics with respect to their use and description. Therefore, the presented study aims to investigate when or where landmarks are mostly needed during a navigational task in a building and how they are verbally expressed. In order to examine these aspects, eleven test persons completed a route in a complex building. While navigating, they had to think out loud and their verbal descriptions were analyzed and compared. The results of this study show that landmarks were most needed on locations where a change of orientation took place. In addition, most referrals were made to objects near the observer. Furthermore, participants preferred to use common nouns to refer to a landmark and more detailing was given by specifying color and material. Finally, the results indicate that predominantly the same elements form the basis to identify an indoor landmark as an outdoor landmark namely visual, structural and semantic features.

Comparing indoor and outdoor network models for automatically calculating turns

The goal of this paper is to compare several indoor and outdoor network models for wayfinding, on their suitability for automatically calculating turns. Automatic turn calculations are of relevance in providing improved cognitive algorithms for route guidance, as it has been widely recognised that routes with minimal angular deviations are easier to follow. It is demonstrated that the currently available indoor network models do not allow accurate calculation of the number of turns along a path, while the common outdoor route networks do. This discrepancy is found to be rooted in an inconsistent definition of indoor decision nodes, which in turn is linked to the inherent differences in space structure between indoor and outdoor environments. Additionally, it is proven that these also have a major influence on the generation of accurate indoor route instructions. Recommendations for future research within the context of both turn calculations and verbalisations of directional changes are made, as well as in the broader context of indoor spatial analyses.