Urban Wayfinding Using Mobile Technologies

CUPUM 05 , London
29 June - 1 July, 2005

Chao Li

Abstract

Research into wayfinding in urban areas is of interest in planning, architecture, geography and other disciplines. To date, studies into urban wayfinding have focused on the interaction between people and built environments, that is how people acquire and process information from the environment for carrying out their wayfinding tasks. Rapid developments in communication and mobile technologies are adding another dimension to this interaction. For example, Location-Based Services (LBS), as one of the applications of mobile technologies, deliver information customised around location and context to people on the move. People can thus acquire information about the environment through mobile devices, in addition to their immediate sensory perceptions. However, there has been no explicit focus on the dynamic interaction between people, urban environment and the information services provided through such mobile technologies. In this paper, urban wayfinding is investigated with the emphasis on the behaviour, interaction and information transaction between people, environments and their mobile devices. Two contrasting urban test environments were created, for this purpose, each having three main components: urban VR models that allow individuals to 'walk around' at street level, a mobile device as information source simulating an LBS wayfinding application, and software for recording participant actions and reactions. This provides a novel approach to studying and understanding such interactions. One of the test areas is characterised by grid-like street patterns and modern low-rise housing, whilst the other is characterised by a more irregular layout with the features of a traditional market town (both based on real locations). The pedestrian wayfinding experiments reported here showed a range of similarities and important differences in the information acquiring behaviour of participants in these two types of urban setting which enhance our understanding of the dynamic interaction between people, urban environment and mobile information services.