Visualizing salient features in spatial descriptions

Anacta,VJA, Krukar,J, Humayun,MI,Schwering,A

Zusammenfassung

The process of describing an environment (or a route through it) is mediated by a set of restrictions provided by the medium (be it verbal or pictorial), task and level of knowledge. The result of such an exercise (be it text or a sketch map) is likely to demonstrate substantial similarities within-, and variability across- these factors. Structuring elements in spatial descriptions also vary depending on perspectives - route or survey. For instance, requiring participants to draw a sketch map from A to B will likely result in A and its neighbourhood being drawn earlier than B. Requiring participants to include some specific landmarks in their descriptions will force them to place them in some spatial arrangement on a sketch map, but not in a verbal description.In this work, we are interested in (1) the organization of elements in drawing sketch maps and giving directions and (2) what additional elements (streets and landmarks) people frequently include. We demonstrate how the process of subtracting the 'required' or 'necessary' information from environmental descriptions can help to identify all the 'not required' and 'unnecessary' information which nevertheless was included in the descriptions. We argue that this information is particularly valuable to identify salient elements of the environment useful for direction-giving. We visualize such information by linking these elements to their true location in the city regardless of inaccuracy in its spatial representation, for instance when a junction wherein that landmark is located is correct, but the distance to the road is not.