Manuel Müller

Displaying landmarks and the user’s surroundings in indoor pedestrian navigation systems

In this paper a holistic approach for developing indoor pedestrian navigation systems is described: first of all, a map modeling toolkit is introduced that allows for the simple and fast creation of environment models and calculation of preference-based routes in various indoor areas. Furthermore, it is shown that landmarks can be easily derived from this model. The landmark selection is based on three user studies that show that “functional” landmarks like doors and stairs are suitable for navigation. The main study was conducted with 64 participants to evaluate different depictions of the user’s surroundings including landmarks. For this purpose an abstract graph-like navigation prototype that uses the data of the modeling toolkit was compared to a depiction additionally showing a mobile map. Results indicate that especially users with a good sense of direction perform significantly better with the graph-like interface in terms of task completion time.

Empirical Evidence for Context-aware Interfaces to Pedestrian Navigation Systems

For geographical mobile search tasks it is rarely sufficient to assist users identifying what location they are currently looking for, e.g. a store, cafe or museum. Often the user needs support in being guided to a retrieved location in a physical space. This means that mobile search is strongly connected with navigation. There is a large body of work indicating that navigating towards points of interest is challenging for many people. In this work we explore how to support best this part of the task by investigating how objects in the physical world—landmarks—can be used in information systems to guide people to their desired location. We present the results of a series of eye tracking studies on the orientation behavior of persons executing indoor navigation tasks. The main finding of the studies is that the contextual relevance and the function of a landmark for completing the task efficiently matters more than the context-free salience of the same landmark. The findings have implications for the design of mobile search systems that support geographical search tasks as they lead to new context-adaptive strategies for navigation systems to explain routes. We provide evidence that even the interface has to adapt its content on the state of the navigation task and the current spatial context in order to provide user- and context-adaptive intuitive interaction.

Evaluating indoor pedestrian navigation interfaces using mobile eye tracking

This article describes two user studies that evaluate different interface designs of indoor pedestrian navigation systems displaying landmarks. In particular, very reduced and abstract interfaces only showing route segments and landmarks are compared to depictions additionally showing floor plans. For this purpose, not only the time it took the participants to fulfill the task, but also eye-tracking data were analyzed. The first experiment (N = 81) was carried out with a smartphone. In the second study (N = 69), a device with a bigger screen was used so that gazes on different screen elements could be analyzed. Results show that the participants reach their destination faster with the abstract interface and, moreover, spend less visual attention on this interface.

Do You Recognize That Building’s Façade?

With the computational power of modern smartphones constantly increasing, resource intensive applications are becoming feasible to an ever growing extent. In this paper, we report on a research project recently started. Its aim is to develop an application for smartphones that combines pedestrian and public transport navigation including the computation of routes consisting of pedestrian routes and public transport trips and intuitive user guidance at any time of the trip. In particular, we focus on intuitive user guidance based on (LMs) in the surroundings of the user. For this reason, we use collaborative approaches to collect LMs and data about them.

Towards interfaces of mobile pedestrian navigation systems adapted to the user’s orientation skills

Abstract It is an open question, whether differently developed orientation skills require alternate pedestrian navigation interface designs for optimal self-localization during wayfinding. To address this issue we conducted two user studies in order to analyze different presentations of mobile maps. Evaluations were conducted in an outdoor ( N = 112 ) and indoor ( N = 64 ) environment. We recorded the time it took participants to localize themselves with the help of salient objects. Significant results were found for both studies. Abstract interfaces support well-oriented users, whereas worse oriented ones profited from standard designs. Consequently, we make the case for user-adaptive pedestrian navigation interfaces.

The path of least resistance: Calculating preference adapted routes for pedestrian navigation

Several studies show that pedestrians do not simply take the shortest route to their destination. In this paper, we address the question, which other factors influence their route decisions. We present a landmark based pedestrian navigation system that guides users through indoor and outdoor areas and forms the foundation of our research regarding route preferences. To investigate the issue which basic preferences exist, a qualitative pre-study was conducted

Der Weg ist das Ziel – Fußgängernavigation ist Forschung zu Information Behavior

(\mathrm{N} = 21).

Where is the Landmark? Eye Tracking Studies in Large-Scale Indoor Environments

(N=21). In the main study we examined if routes chosen by participants in realistic scenarios deviate from the shortest possible route. With this, we explored if preferences, found in the pre-study, really influence the selection of routes