Abstract
The least-angle strategy is a common wayfinding method that can be applied in unknown environments if the target direction is known. The strategy is based on the navigator's heuristic to select the street segment at an intersection which is most in line with the target direction. To use this strategy, the navigator needs to know the angles between the target direction and the street segments leading out from the intersection. If the direct view to the target is blocked and the target vector cannot be perceived, the target direction that is needed for the decision process is based on the agent's believed position and orientation (estimated through path integration). The agent's believed position and target direction are distorted by human errors in estimation of distances and directions, mainly affecting the path integration process. In this paper we examine how human estimation errors of distance and rotation influence the decision behavior in the wayfinding process in an unknown street environment. To demonstrate the geometrical consequences for a specific test case, we use a simulated software agent which navigates in a simulated street environment.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Allen, G.L. (1999). Spatial Abilities, Cognitive Maps, and Wayfinding. In R.G. Golledge (ed.), Wayfinding Behavior: Cognitive Mapping and Other Spatial Processes (pp. 46–80). Baltimore MD: John Hopkins Press.
Bailenson, J., Shum, M. and Uttal, D. (2000). The initial segment strategy: A heuristic for route selection. Memory and Cognition 28(2): 306–318.
Bose, P. and Morin, P. (1999). Online routing in triangulations. ISAAC'99, Springer.
Byrne, R. (1979). Memory for urban geography. Ouarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 31: 147–154.
Davis, E. (1990). Representations of Commonsense Knowledge. San Mateo, California: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers.
Downs, R.M. and Stea, S. (1973). Cognitive maps and spatial behavior: process and product. In R.M. Downs and S. Stea (eds.), Image and Environment. Chicago: Aldine.
Eby, D. and Loomis, J. (1987). A study of visually directed throwing in the presence of multiple distance cues. Perception and Psychophysics 11: 308–312.
Foley, J.M. (1977). Effect of distance information and range on two indices of visually perceived distance. Perception 6: 449–460.
Gallistel, C.R. (1990). The organization of learning. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Gärling, T. and Golledgem R. (2000). Cognitive mapping and spatial decision-making. In R. Kitchin and S. Freundschuh (eds.), Cognitive Mapping - Past, present and future (pp. 44–65). London: Routledge.
Glasauer, S., Amorim, M.-A., Vitte, M.-A. and Berthoz, A. (1994). Goal-directed linear locomotion in normal and labyrinthine-defective subjects. Experimental Brain Research 98: 323–335.
Golledge, R.G. and Zannaras, G. (1973). Cognitive approaches to the analysis of human spatial behavior. In W. Ittelson (ed.), Environment and Cognition (pp. 59–94). New York: Seminar.
Golledge, R.G. (1995). Path Selection and Route Preference in Human Navigation: A Progress Report. Spatial Information Theory, COSIT '95, Semmering, Austria: Springer.
Golledge, R.G., Jacobson, R.D., Kitchin, R. and Blades, M. (2000). Cognitive Maps, Spatial Abilities, and Human Wayfinding. Geographical Review of Japan 73(Ser. B)(2): 93–104.
Hochmair, H. (2000). ‘least Angle’ Heuristic: Consequences of errors during navigation (abstract). GIScience, Savannah, Georgia, USA: University of California Regents.
Huttenlocher, J., Hedges, L. and Duncan, S. (1991). Categories and Particulars: Prototype Effects in Estimating Spatial Location. Psychological Review 98(3): 352–376.
Klatzky, R.L., Loomis, J.M., Golledge, R.G., Cicinelli, J.G., Doherty, S. and Pellegrino, J.W. (1990). Acquisition of route and survey knowledge in the absence of vision. Journal of Motor Behavior 22(1): 19–43.
Kosslyn, S., Pick, H. and Fariello, G. (1974). Cognitive maps in children and men. Child Development 45: 707–716.
Kranakis, E., Singh, H. and Urrutia, J. (1999). Compass routing on geometric networks. 11th Canadian Conference on Computational Geometry (CCCG'99).
Kuipers, B. (182). The ‘Map in the Head’ Metaphor. Environment and Behavior 14: 202-220.
Loomis, J.M. and Klatzky, R.L. (1999). Human Navigation by Path Integration. In R.G. Golledge (ed.), Wayfinding Behavior: Cognitive Mapping and Other Spatial Processes (pp. 125–151). Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins Press
Loomis, J.M., Klatzky, R.L., Golledge, R.G., Cicinelli, J.G., Pellegrino, J.W. and Fry, P.A. (1993). Nonvisual navigation by blind and sighted: Assessment of path integration ability. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 122(1): 73–91.
Lynch, K. (1960). The image of the city. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
McNaughton, B., Chen, L. and Markus, E. (1991). ‘Dead Reckoning’, Landmark Learning, and the Sense of Direction: A Neorophysiological and Computational Hypothesis. Journal of the Cognitive Neuroscience 3(2): 190–202.
Michon, P. and Denis, M. (2001). When and Why Referring to Visual Landmarks in Direction Giving? COSIT, Morro Bay, California, USA: Springer.
Mittelstaedt, H. (1985). Analytical cybernetics of spider navigation. In F.G. Barth (ed.), Neurobiology of arachnids (pp. 298–316). Berlin: Springer.
Montello, D.R. (1991). Spatial orientation and the angularity of urban routes: A field study. Environment and Behavior 23: 47–69.
Passini, R., Proulx, G. and Rainville, C. (1990). The spatio-cognitive abilities of the visually impaired population. Environment and Behavior 22: 91–116.
Philbeck, J., Loomis, J. and Beall, A. (1997). Visually perceived location is an invariant in the control of action. Perception and Psychophysics 59(4): 601–612.
Russell, S.J. and Norvig, P. (1995). Artificial Intelligence - A Modern Approach. London: Prentice-Hall International, Inc.
Sadalla, E. and Staplin, L. (1980). An information storage model for distance cognition. Environment and Behavior 12: 183–193.
Sadalla, E.K. and Montello, D.R. (1989). Remembering changes in direction. Environment and Behavior 21: 346–363.
Thompson, S. (1996). Haskell - The Craft of Functional Programming. Harlow, England: Addison-Wesley.
Thomson, J.A. (1980). How do we use visual information to control locomotion? Trends in Neuroscience 3: 247–250.
Thorndyke, P. and Hayes-Roth, B. (1981). Differences in spatial knowledge acquired from maps and navigation. Cognitive Psychology 14: 560–589.
Timmermans, H. and Golledge, R. (1990). Applications of behavioral research on spatial problems II: Preference and choice. Progress in Human Geography 14: 311–354.
Tversky, B. (2000). Levels and structure of spatial knowledge. In R. Kitchin and S. Freundschuh (eds.), Cognitive Mapping - Past, present and future (pp. 24–43). London: Routledge.
Wooldridge, M. (1999). Intelligent Agents. In G. Weiss Multiagent Systems - A modern Approach to Distributed Artificial Intelligence. Cambridge: Massachusetts, The MIT Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hochmair, H., Frank, A.U. Influence of estimation errors on wayfinding-decisions in unknown street networks – analyzing the least-angle strategy. Spatial Cognition and Computation 2, 283–313 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015566423907
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015566423907