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Analysis of verbal route descriptions and landmarks for hiking

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Abstract

Along with the increasing number of mobile applications for pedestrian use a need arises for more intuitive wayfinding instructions, also for broader use such as hiking. To get a deeper understanding about what kinds of terms and concepts people use when moving in a natural environment and how they describe their surroundings, an empirical thinking aloud study was carried out in a national park during both winter and summer conditions. This study aims at providing additional knowledge on human verbal descriptions of routes and landmarks. The propositions of descriptions are classified into categories and analysed. The results of this study will be utilised for an implementation of a terrain navigator to support such leisure activities as hiking during different times of a year. The results of the analysis of verbal descriptions regarding hiking are discussed and compared with previous studies, and finally conclusions are given.

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Acknowledgments

This survey is a part of two research projects. The European Commission supported HaptiMap project (FPT-ICT-224675) is coordinated by the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Group of Lund University’s Department of Design Sciences (www.haptimap.org). The UbiMap project is funded by the Academy of Finland, under the Motive research programme and is carried out in cooperation with the FGI, Department of Geoinformatics and Cartography, and the University of Helsinki, Department of Cognitive Science.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geoinformatics and Cartography, Finnish Geodetic Institute, P.O. Box 15, 02431, Masala, Finland

    L. Tiina Sarjakoski, Pyry Kettunen, Hanna-Marika Flink, Mari Laakso, Mikko Rönneberg & Tapani Sarjakoski

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  1. L. Tiina Sarjakoski
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  2. Pyry Kettunen
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  3. Mari Laakso
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  4. Mikko Rönneberg
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  5. Tapani Sarjakoski
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Correspondence to L. Tiina Sarjakoski.

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Sarjakoski, L.T., Kettunen, P., Flink, HM. et al. Analysis of verbal route descriptions and landmarks for hiking. Pers Ubiquit Comput 16, 1001–1011 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00779-011-0460-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00779-011-0460-7

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