The Influences of Different Sensory Modalities and Cognitive Loads on Walking Navigation: A Preliminary Study

Xiaochen Zhang, Lingling Jin, Jie Zhao, Jiazhen Li, Ding-Bang Luh and Tiansheng Xia ()
Additional contact information
Xiaochen Zhang: Department of Industrial Design, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510090, China
Lingling Jin: Department of Industrial Design, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510090, China
Jie Zhao: Department of Industrial Design, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510090, China
Jiazhen Li: Department of Industrial Design, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510090, China
Ding-Bang Luh: Department of Industrial Design, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510090, China
Tiansheng Xia: Department of Industrial Design, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510090, China

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 24, 1-14

Abstract: External cognitive burden has long been considered an important factor causing pedestrian navigation safety problems, as pedestrians in navigation inevitably acquire external information through their senses. Therefore, the influences of different types of sensory modalities and cognitive loads on walking navigation are worthy of in-depth investigation as the foundation for improving pedestrians’ safety in navigation. This study investigated users’ performance in visual, auditory, and tactile navigation under different cognitive loads by experimental simulation. Thirty-six participants were recruited for the experiment. A computer program simulating walking navigation was used, and three different cognitive task groups were set up. Participants’ reaction times and performances were recorded during the experiment, and a post-test questionnaire was administered for evaluation purposes. According to the tests, the following points are summarized. First, visual navigation performed the best in load-free conditions, which was significantly faster than auditory navigation and tactile navigation, but the difference between the latter two was not significant. There was a significant interaction between navigation types and cognitive load types. Specifically, in the condition without load, reaction time in auditory navigation was significantly slower than those in visual navigation and tactile navigation. In the condition with auditory load, reaction time in visual navigation was significantly faster than those in auditory navigation and tactile navigation. In the condition with visual load, there were no significant differences among the three navigations.

Keywords: wayfinding; walking navigation; navigation methods; cognitive load (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/24/16727/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/24/16727/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:24:p:16727-:d:1002462

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().