In a large scale environment humans rely on their mental representations cognitive maps to solve navigational problems. To approach the understanding of how humans acquire, process, and utilize information from the environment, three groups of participants in this study performed several experiments associated with finding their way in a previously unknown environment. Experimental tasks included route retracing, pointing to previously visited locations, and a questionnaire regarding wayfinding strategies and cognitive map development. Each of three groups of participants was in one of three unique conditions: 1. learning and retracing with navigational landmarks indicating right and left turns at decision points; 2. during route retracing only generic landmarks were present at decision points (landmarks indicating left and right were present during learning but replaced during retracing); and 3. no landmarks were present during route retracing (landmarks indicating left and right were present during learning but removed before retracing started). Results supported the hypothesis that during the initial stages of visiting an unknown environment we build metric knowledge together with non-metric knowledge associated with the broad categories of landmark and route knowledge. In addition, the environment plays an important role in wayfinding performance and that characteristics of the environment contribute differently to the development of our cognitive map. Last but not least, the strategies humans use to solve wayfinding problems in a novel environment are not based on an individual type of environmental knowledge; in fact, we switch between different types of environmental knowledge when necessary. Shifting between strategies appears to be from more familiar environmental knowledge to less familiar knowledge. In particular, participants from group 3 (no landmarks during the retracing period) were more likely to walk off-route during retracing but exhibited more accurate metric knowledge of the environment. Based on the results of this experiment, they combined route- and survey-based strategies in wayfinding and switched from the most familiar knowledge to a less familiar strategy.

In a large scale environment humans rely on their mental representations cognitive maps to solve navigational problems. To approach the understanding of how humans acquire, process, and utilize information from the environment, three groups of participants in this study performed several experiments associated with finding their way in a previously unknown environment. Experimental tasks included route retracing, pointing to previously visited locations, and a questionnaire regarding wayfinding strategies and cognitive map development. Each of three groups of participants was in one of three unique conditions: 1. learning and retracing with navigational landmarks indicating right and left turns at decision points; 2. during route retracing only generic landmarks were present at decision points (landmarks indicating left and right were present during learning but replaced during retracing); and 3. no landmarks were present during route retracing (landmarks indicating left and right were present during learning but removed before retracing started). Results supported the hypothesis that during the initial stages of visiting an unknown environment we build metric knowledge together with non-metric knowledge associated with the broad categories of landmark and route knowledge. In addition, the environment plays an important role in wayfinding performance and that characteristics of the environment contribute differently to the development of our cognitive map. Last but not least, the strategies humans use to solve wayfinding problems in a novel environment are not based on an individual type of environmental knowledge; in fact, we switch between different types of environmental knowledge when necessary. Shifting between strategies appears to be from more familiar environmental knowledge to less familiar knowledge. In particular, participants from group 3 (no landmarks during the retracing period) were more likely to walk off-route during retracing but exhibited more accurate metric knowledge of the environment. Based on the results of this experiment, they combined route- and survey-based strategies in wayfinding and switched from the most familiar knowledge to a less familiar strategy.

Moving through varied and complex environments every day is something that most people do with ease. However, if the input from the visual system is unavailable (e.g., damage to the optic nerves or smoke in a burning building), navigating and avoiding obstacles becomes much more demanding. It is therefore desirable to develop a navigation aide for use where visual input has become unavailable. There is a small body of research concerning such navigation aides and their efficacy. However, many issues that may have serious human factors repercussions for such a system are unexplored. This study was conducted in order to examine the effect of an attentionally demanding distractor task on wayfinding performance with an audio only navigation aide, in this case the System for Wearable Audio Navigation (SWAN). The distractor task was found to have a significant impact on wayfinding performance, which decreased when both tasks were performed simultaneously. However, performance on the distractor task improved during this time, in some cases reaching performance levels similar to when the distractor task was performed by itself. This result may be due to participants shifting attention to the task they perceive to be more difficult when asked to do both simultaneously, in this case the distractor task.

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The sacred and the profane: a dichotomy that can only exist through the thresholds within. In a world that's drowning in the profane, we yearn for the ephemeral, in which our mind, body, and soul emerge out of the mundanity of day-to-day life, and into something beyond. We search for the art, seek pilgrimage, and long for the symbols. The physical, emotional, and sensational thresholds we pass between the two states are what resonate in our bodies. Those experiences are the stories we pass on. Yet, some of the most sacred spaces in the world have become mere subjects behind the lens of a camera. Technology has empowered our ability to reach marvels, yet it has provided layers now inherently filtered onto our experiences. How real are these thresholds we long to pass if they are experienced only through electronic devices? The sacred experiences I treasure the most were given life through movement: movement of time, light, and the elements, none of which I would trade for a photograph. The following pages trace my imagination of a place where we take a step back through the door we barely noticed. Instead of looking for the sacred, we journey through the profane. We celebrate the threshold. / Master of Architecture

This is a thesis in Information Design focusing on Spatial Design. A study of the outdoor environment at Mälarsjukhuset in Eskilstuna has focused on how nature and plants affect visitor’s orientation. The purpose of this work is to investigate how nature and trees can guide in complex environments. During early observations it was seen that there was a missing of signs and other guiding and informative elements on the site which made it problematic for visitors to orient themselves. This observation, together with previous visits to the site, led to my choice of conducting the study at this site. The end result of the work has come from empirical data that the methods have resulted in together with literature studies. The methods that have been used are site analysis, observation, interview, external analysis and a focus group workshop. The result showed in the study is the base for the design proposal presented in this thesis. The design proposal is presented through maps, images and text. The proposal embodies how the outdoor environment could change in order to increase the ability to orientate between the buildings of Mälarsjukhuset. / Det här är ett examensarbete i Informationsdesign med inriktning mot Rumslig Gestaltning. En studie av utomhusmiljön på Mälarsjukhuset i Eskilstuna har genomförts kring hur natur och växter påverkar besökares orienterbarhet. Syftet med arbetet är att undersöka hur natur och träd kan vägleda i komplexa miljöer. Under tidiga observationer kunde det ses att det fanns en saknad av skyltar och andra vägledande och informativa element på platsen vilket gjorde det problematiskt för besökare att orientera sig på platsen. Denna observation tillsammans med tidigare besök på platsen ledde till mitt val av att utföra studien just på denna plats. Slutresultatet av arbetet har kommit från de empiriska data som metoderna har resulterat i tillsammans med litteraturstudier. De metoder som har använts är platsanalys, observation, intervju, omvärldsanalys och en workshop med fokusgrupp. Resultaten i denna studie ligger för grund till det gestaltningsförslag som presenteras i examensarbetet. Gestaltningsförslaget presenteras genom kartor, bilder och text. Förslaget gestaltar hur utomhusmiljön skulle kunna förändras för att öka orienterbarheten mellan Mälarsjukhusets byggnader.

Airports have increased in size with the popularization of air travel and the emergence of new technology, which in turn has created less than ideal facility configurations for users wayfinding purposes. For that reason, the primary tool used to move the traveling public through airport facilities is signage, which should employ a concise and comprehensible system of directional, identification, regulatory and informational messages (Erhart 2001) to help all airport users navigate the maze-like facilities. With the intent of successfully directing the majority of airport users to their desired destinations, airport planners have implemented bilingual signage in several airports across the United States. The majority of these systems utilize Spanish as a secondary language: a reflection of the changes in population of American communities and the addition of new travel routes to Mexico, Central, and South America from several airlines. Whereas the importance of having bilingual signage systems is apparent, there is little information concerning how the Spanish speaking user views these bilingual systems and whether they are useful. The purpose of this thesis is to shed light on this issue by conferring with the user on the usability of several features of bilingual (English-Spanish) signage systems, and involve them in the design process with the goal to develop a useful system. As a result of this thesis, recommendations for improving the design of English-Spanish signage systems will be provided.

This thesis sets out to identify a possible linkage between the concept of informality and Indigenous planning, and explore a role for planners in that linkage. It takes as a jumping-off point a 2010 Indigenous Planning Studio project in which two Master of City Planning (MCP) students assisted the Fisher River Cree Nation in developing street names and addresses for their reserve community, an exercise later determined to be an example of planners working with informality. Ways in which planners may contribute to the fostering of more useful relationships between more and less formal systems are also explored. The thesis looks at the extent to which embracing urban informality and making it part of the standard discourse on planning could help make the planning more relevant and improve its usefulness at the intersection between formality and informality.

The basis of this dissertation is research of individual's needs to identify themselves with their surroundings. Creating a schematic picture of the city which evokes feelings of belonging and supports the formation of social bonds. These aspects are noted by research. The state of perception of one's surroundings was evaluated in multiple phases. Specifically using quantitative and qualitative processes to examine mental mapping. The method of mental mapping is used as an interstage in the overall examination, comparing the individual's spatial image with the reality. Detecting mappable elements and labeling the initial entities or overall frequency of drawn elements. The wayfinding map can be further used for strategic and urbanistic projection as it includes unbased data created by including the community into the process of shaping the urban space. Result of this analytical information is the immersion into the surroundings on which is the focus of this study in the form of incorporating landscape architecture. In the case of Mistek it's the creation an avenue which links individual public spaces.

The following study aimed to understand pure wayfinding search strategies and identify the most efficient strategy when discovering a new environment. Participants performed one drive in a simulated city environment within a driving simulation lab. Their objective was to locate a target within the city, without any navigational aids (maps, GPS, etc.). Efficiency measures, such as number of road segments covered between origin and target, were evaluated. Experience and gender were also analyzed. There was a significant difference of efficiency between search strategies. Experience did not impact a driver’s efficiency. The knowledge from this study can be used in city planning of high tourist areas or major facilities.