Evaluation of Multi-Level Cognitive Maps for Supporting Between-Floor Spatial Behavior in Complex Indoor Environments

People often become disoriented when navigating in complex, multi-level buildings. To efficiently find destinations located on different floors, navigators must refer to a globally coherent mental representation of the multi-level environment, which is termed a multi-level cognitive map. However, there is a surprising dearth of research into underlying theories of why integrating multi-level spatial knowledge into a multi-level cognitive map is so challenging and error-prone for humans. This overarching problem is the core motivation of this dissertation. We address this vexing problem in a two-pronged approach combining study of both basic and applied research questions. Of theoretical interest, we investigate questions about how multi-level built environments are learned and structured in memory. The concept of multi-level cognitive maps and a framework of multi-level cognitive map development are provided. We then conducted a set of empirical experiments to evaluate the effects of several environmental factors on users’ development of multi-level cognitive maps. The findings of these studies provide important design guidelines that can be used by architects and help to better understand the research question of why people get lost in buildings. Related to application, we investigate questions about how to design user-friendly visualization interfaces that augment users’ capability to form multi-level cognitive maps. An important finding of this dissertation is that increasing visual access with an X-ray-like visualization interface is effective for overcoming the disadvantage of limited visual access in built environments and assists the development of multi-level cognitive maps. These findings provide important human-computer interaction (HCI) guidelines for visualization techniques to be used in future indoor navigation systems. In sum, this dissertation adopts an interdisciplinary approach, combining theories from the fields of spatial cognition, information visualization, and HCI, addressing a long-standing and ubiquitous problem faced by anyone who navigates indoors: why do people get lost inside multi-level buildings. Results provide both theoretical and applied levels of knowledge generation and explanation, as well as contribute to the growing field of real-time indoor navigation systems

Emerging Web Graphics Standards and Technologies

Migrating computer graphics to the Web poses several problems, but with new standards and technology advances, graphics applications can balance latency and bandwidth constraints with image quality. The paper discusses Web graphics standards, distributed virtual environments and virtual humans.Department of Computin

Emerging Web graphics standards and technologies

Migrating computer graphics to the Web poses several problems, but with new standards and technology advances, graphics applications can balance latency and bandwidth constraints with image quality. The paper discusses Web graphics standards, distributed virtual environments and virtual human

Web Graphics Tutorial Emerging Web Graphics Standards and Technologies

Migrating graphics applications and techniques to the Web introduces technological challenges not present in traditional graphics. The shortage of library tools to support Web graphics application development poses a particular problem for real-time 3D Web graphics. The Internet, with its long latency and low bandwidth, can’t easily handle large 3D graphics geometry. These restrictions limit the graphics applications we can develop and deliver for the Web. To address these challenges, we need new graphics standards that Migrating computer let us develop library tools for portable graphics applications. graphics to the Web poses These standards must run on diverse machine architectures and several problems, but with operating systems to cater to as many potential users as possible, new standards and and the major computer firms interested in this market must accept the technology advances, standards. As 3D Web graphics advance, graphics applications can human modeling and animation will be important not only for the balance latency and application contents but also as a human–computer interface. Dis-bandwidth constraints with tributed virtual environments form a core part of the Web 3D engine, image quality. and research focuses on making DVEs both realistic and lightweight for the Web environment. Web graphics standards Graphics standards are evolving to adapt traditional graphics to the Web environment. 2D vector graphics Although most Web images are bitmap images, vector-based graphics are becoming increasingly important. Users often convert vector images to bitmap images because Web browsers better support the latter, but this negates many advantages of vector graphics. Also