Kristien Ooms

Ghent University | UGhent · Department of Geography

Every route instruction type (e.g. map, symbol, photo) induces a specific cognitive load. However, when these types are used at different decision points in a building, the building configuration of these points also influences the induced cognitive load. Therefore, the process of route guidance results in an interaction between the instruction typ...

Özet: Bu çalışma, uzman ve uzman olmayan harita kullanıcılarının mekânsal bellek yeteneklerini incelemeye yönelik kullanıcı deneylerinin tasarım süreçlerine odaklanmıştır. Deneylerde, farklı harita kullanıcı gruplarının haritaların içeriğini hatırlamaları istendiğinde geliştirdikleri dikkate bağlı bilişsel stratejilerini açığa çıkarmada kullanılan...

As indoor wayfinding can be very challenging, adapted systems, which adapt the route instruction type, are being developed to facilitate more supportive indoor route guidance. In this study, such a system has been developed based on the results of an online survey. This adapted system was compared with a non- adapted system by use of eye tracking,...

This study focused on the design processes of user experiments conducted to examine the spatial memory abilities, differences and similarities of expert and novice map users. In the experiments, different map user groups were asked to remember the content of maps with uniform or various levels of detail. The cognitive load of the participants that...

In recent years, there has been a rising awareness about the relevance of spatial ability and integrating spatial information into educational curricula. It is now considered essential to problem-solving and understanding a variety of natural and cultural phenomena. To analyze people’s global-scale cognitive map and which factors influence it, a sh...

The goal of this study is to investigate how efficiently and effectively collapsed buildings – due to the occurrence of a disaster – can be localized by a general crowd. Two types of visualization parameters are evaluated in an online user study: (1) greyscale images (indicating height information) versus true colours; (2) variation in the vertical...

ARC is an adaptive indoor mobile wayfinding system, which was developed based on the results of a previous online survey. The ARC system links data from several sources to enable a route guidance adapted to the environment: the type of route instruction is adapted to the location of the user. In this study, the usability of the system was tested in...

The main objective of this research is to explore the cognitive processes of expert and novice map users during the retrieval of map-related information, within varying difficulty levels (i.e., easy, moderate, hard), by using eye tracking and electroencephalogram (EEG). In this context, we present a spatial memory experiment consisting of a large n...

Map projections are required to represent the globe on a flat surface, which always results in distorted representations of the globe. Accordingly, the world maps we observe in daily life contexts, such as on news sites, in news bulletins, on social media, in educational textbooks or atlases, are distorted images of the world. The question raises i...

Several factors influence the global-scale cognitive map. The use of school books, atlases and web maps all play an essential role in the development of geographical knowledge of adolescents. This research examines the impact of the educational system versus web maps on the adolescents’ mental map. Through a specially designed web application, univ...

Indoor navigation systems are not well adapted to the needs of their users. The route planning algorithms implemented in these systems are usually limited to shortest path calculations or derivatives, minimalizing Euclidian distance. Guiding people along routes that adhere better to their cognitive processes could ease wayfinding in indoor environm...

To be able to design indoor wayfinding systems that adhere better to the needs of the users, user perception on complexity needs to be examined and linked to user characteristics and decision point characteristics. To identify how these characteristics influence perception, an online survey is executed in which participants had to indicate how comp...

The aim of this research is to evaluate the use of ET and EEG for studying the cognitive processes of expert and novice map users and to explore these processes by comparing two types of spatial memory experiments through cognitive load measurements. The first experiment consisted of single trials and participants were instructed to study a map sti...

Adaptive mobile wayfinding systems are being developed to ease wayfinding in the indoor environment. They present wayfinding information to the user, which is adapted to the context. Wayfinding information can be communicated by using different types of route instructions, such as text, photos, videos, symbols or a combination thereof. The need for...

Outdoors, navigation aids are widely used. Indoors, on the other hand, these systems are not yet common practice, because it requires another more elaborate positioning method and the environments are more complex. Especially in complex buildings, wayfinding can be challenging and induce a rise in cognitive load. To reduce cognitive load, indoor wa...

Cognitive maps are defined as internal representations of the environment or of the globe. Several scientists of various disciplines (e.g. psychology, geography) have conducted cognitive research on issues related to maps aiming to understand how humans create and utilize mental representations of the earth. Concluding that several elements, such a...

This paper focuses on the design of a cartographic user experiment that employs both eye tracking (ET) and electroencephalogram (EEG). When creating such an experiment, one is confronted with a large number of (often conflicting) challenges which need to be resolved: quality of the recorded signals, design of appropriate stimuli and tasks, synchron...

Wayfinding in the indoor environment is challenging and people often get lost indoors. Navigation systems guide people in these environments, however, the existing systems are not well adapted to their users. The focus of our research is on the route planning aspect of navigation systems. By adapting the routes that people are guided along in the e...

Present-day indoor navigation systems are often not well adapted to the specific needs and requirements of its users. This research aims at improving those indoor navigation systems by providing navigation support that cognitively closer to user preferences and behaviour. More specifically, the focus is on the implementation of an accurate turn cal...

For decades, cartographers and cognitive scientists have speculated about the influence of map projections on mental representations of the world. The development of Web 2.0 and web mapping services at the beginning of the 21st century—such as Google Maps, OpenStreetMap, and Baidu Map—led to an enormous spread of cartographic data, which is availab...

The use of mobile pedestrian wayfinding applications is gaining importance indoors. How-ever, compared to outdoors, much less research has been conducted with respect to the most adequate ways to convey indoor wayfinding information to a user. An explorative study was conducted to compare two pedestrian indoor wayfinding applications, one text-base...

The map presented in this paper summarises the combined land- and airside accessibility within Australia. To this end, we calculate a bimodal accessibility index at the scale of statistical units by aggregating the (shortest) travel time for three route segments: (1) road travel from the origin to a departure airport, (2) air travel, and (3) road t...

This paper describes the development of a crowdsourced indoor navigation system named SoleWay. Because the input of volunteers is crucial, special attention was paid to the usability of the system at different stages throughout its development. Besides a user-friendly system, this has resulted in a number of important insights that can facilitate t...

The present study evaluates the quality of gaze data produced by a low-cost eye tracker (The Eye Tribe©, The Eye Tribe, Copenhagen, Denmark) in order to verify its suitability for the performance of scientific research. An integrated methodological framework, based on artificial eye measurements and human eye tracking data, is proposed towards the...

This paper explores map users’ cognitive processes in learning, acquiring and remembering information presented via screen maps. In this context, we conducted a mixed-methods user experiment employing digital sketch maps and eye tracking. On the one hand, the performance of the participants was assessed based on the order with which the objects wer...

A user study is conducted to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of two types of visualizations to identify damages sites in case of disaster. The test consists out 36 trials (18 for each visualisation) and in each trial an area of 1 × 1 km, located in Ghent, is displayed on a screen. This image shows the combined height information from befo...

This ongoing research paper explores (the possibilities to integrate eye tracking (ET) and electroencephalogram (EEG) for cartographic usability research. While ET, on one hand, provides observations and measurements related to gaze movements, EEG, on the other hand, helps to monitor and measure electrical activity occurring at different locations...

The project STREAM (Spatio-Temporal Research Infrastructure for Early Modern Flanders and Brabant) aims to create a research infrastructure that will allow spatio-temporal analyses in order to improve our understanding of the demographic, social and economic changes that occurred in Flanders and Brabant (Belgium) between 1550 and 1800. The Carte de...

Floods are one of the most significant hazards in Europe. This paper describes an iterative approach consisting of designing and evaluating static flood risk maps. In the first step, the use of different colour schemes and background types (e.g. topographic map, street map, and satellite images) is evaluated in an online survey. Next the design is...

This paper aims at evaluating a method for objective visual assessment of constructions in the landscape based on saliency, which is defined as the distinct perceptual quality by which an item in the world stands out from its surroundings and therefore attracts attention (conspicuity). Photographic simulations of public facility buildings, water to...

This new Handbook unites cartographic theory and praxis with the principles of cartographic design and their application. It offers a critical appraisal of the current state of the art, science, and technology of map-making in a convenient and well-illustrated guide that will appeal to an international and multi-disciplinary audience. No single-vol...

This working paper aims to compare existing approaches in indoor navigation. In this we focus on networks and algorithms to respectively model the indoor space and to calculate routes. This is compared with crowdsourced and text-based route instructions. As such the goal is to develop and evaluate an indoor solution that can generate indoor network...

The possibility of digital interactivity requires us to reenvision the map reader as the map user, and to address the new perceptual, cognitive, cultural, and practical considerations that now influence the user's experience with interactive maps and visualizations. Here, we present an agenda for empirical research on these users and the interactiv...

This study explores the possibilities to integrate eye tracking and EEG (electroencephalogram) for cartographic usability research and linking this to cognitive research. The final goal is to obtain insights in how – different types of (in our case experts and novices)– users read, interpret and retrieve the visual information on – different types...

This paper explores the possibilities to integrate eye tracking and EEG (electroencephalogram) for cartographic usability research and linking this to cognitive research. The final goal is to obtain insights in how – different types of – users read, interpret and retrieve the visual information on – different types of – screen maps. Cognitive carto...

The possibility of digital interactivity requires us to reenvision the map reader as the map user, and to address the perceptual, cognitive, cultural, and practical considerations that influence the user’s experience with interactive maps and visualizations. In this article, we present an agenda for empirical research on this user and the interacti...

We analyse if the visual exploration of landscape photographs is influenced by the urbanization level of the landscape and whether this is correlated with visual landscape complexity. We determine if differences in viewing behaviour are related to differences in complexity, expressed by the photograph's spectral entropy. An eye-tracking experiment...

The general aim of this paper is to evaluate the influence of panning on the map user’s (attentive) behaviour, using a mixed methods approach. A user study was conducted in which participants – with an expertise in cartography – had to execute four tasks in Google Maps, using only a panning operation. During the first two tasks, participants had to...

Routing and navigation services for leisure activities are conditioned by special needs and trade-offs. The advent of online communities and large crowdsourced datasets offers opportunities to improve the adoption of a user’s perspective in these suggested paths. This paper focuses on achieving two goals. First, the presented methodology analyses a...

In this study, we analyse how well saliency maps, which are theoretical predictions of the human viewing pattern, are correlated with human focus maps, obtained by tracking 42 observer's eyes while free-viewing landscape photographs ranging from rural to urban environments. The Pearson's correlation coefficient was calculated on the predicted and m...

This map summarizes the relative change in activity at 379 airports during the tumultuous economic period that lasted from 2003 to 2013 in the conterminous USA. Rather than treating airports only as individual nodes, the work identifies relative regional spatial change in airport activity based upon the combination of the percentage changes in thre...

The goal of this research is to design, use and evaluate a set of web lectures, specifically tailored to the needs of students in higher education who follow geographic information system -related courses. Since education in geographic information system includes theoretical concepts and practical experience, both of these teaching strategies will...

This article compares the accuracy and precision of the low-cost Eye Tribe tracker and a well-established comparable eye tracker: SMI RED 250. Participants were instructed to fixate on predefined point locations on a screen. The accuracy is measured by the distance between the recorded fixation locations and the actual location. Precision is repres...

Maps are not limited anymore to the paper medium, nowadays most of them are produced in a digital format. Since both media are still frequently used, a user study was set-up to investigate whether there is any difference in how map users read and search on maps presented on these two media. All participants had experience in the use of paper and di...

Due to recent technological progress, maps have become more popular than ever before. This is especially true for young people, who interact with these technologies on a daily basis. Therefore, it is essential that these potential map users possess sufficient knowledge and skills to process the content of cartographic products. A user study was con...

The main goal of this research is to investigate the influence of a map's background colour on user preferences regarding labels' typography, including their size, shape, orientation and texture. Four sets of backgrounds were tested: blank maps, grey scale, hot colours and cold colours. The foreground of these maps is populated with name labels, wh...

User evaluations of interactive and dynamic applications face various challenges related to the active nature of these displays. For example, users can often zoom and pan on digital products, and these interactions cause changes in the extent and/or level of detail of the stimulus. Therefore, in eye tracking studies, when a user’s gaze is at a part...

Landmarks play an important role in facilitating indoor navigation. This role could be enhanced further by incorporating them in wayfinding aids such as maps and route instructions. This requires, however, an adequate and workable criterion that can be used for the identification of these objects or structures. Based on the results of a study in wh...

In archaeology, the intensive application of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) with their specialized capabilities in analysing spatial objects and relations, is hampered by the data particularities. Consequently, the idea arises to develop a comprehensive four-dimensional (4D, i.e. 3D and time) GIS tailored to archaeology, which would facilit...

The detection of indoor landmarks remains a troublesome endeavour. The rise of more performant and user-friendly mobile eye tracking devices might offer a solution. A small-scale study was conducted in which a test popu- lation was given a navigational task and whereby eye movement measures and think aloud protocols were compared. The first results...

Over the last couple of years, applications that support wayfinding in indoor spaces have become a booming industry. Finding one's way in complex 3D indoor environments can still be a challenging endeavor, partly induced by the specific indoor structure (e.g. fragmentation, less visibility, confined areas). Appropriate algorithms that help guide un...

Labels are indispensable visual (communication) elements that completely deliver the geospatial message of maps. The objective of this study is to investigate the impact of complementary colors between the map's background and text on the readability of cartographic texts and thus on the efficiency of the map user's search task. This is compared wi...

Although the efficiency of label placement algorithms has been studied extensively, few studies considered the influence of the label designs on the efficiency of map readers. Labels are one of the most important elements on the map as they can provide more information than other symbols can. The design of the labels does have to stress the theme,...

The aim of this paper is to gain better understanding of the way map users read and interpret the visual stimuli presented to them and how this can be influenced. In particular, the difference between expert and novice map users is considered. In a user study, the participants studied four screen maps which had been manipulated to introduce deviati...

This paper aims to extend current research regarding map users’ cognitive processes while working with screen maps. The described experiment investigates how (expert and novice) map users retrieve information from memory that was previously gathered from screen maps. A user study was conducted in which participants had to draw a map from memory. Du...

The main goal of this research is to investigate the influence of a map's background colour on user preferences regarding labels' typography, including their size, shape, orientation and texture. Four sets of backgrounds were tested: blank maps, grey scale, hot colours and cold colours. The foreground of these maps is populated with name labels, wh...

Recently, a rising need to understand (novice) users of digital cartographic products has surfaced: how do they interpret and process the visual information, and how is this retrieved and used later on? A user study was conducted that combined several techniques to investigate these cognitive processes: eye tracking, thinking aloud and sketch maps....

The experiments described in this article combine response time measurements and eye movement data to gain insight into the users' cognitive processes while working with dynamic and interactive maps. Experts and novices participated in a user study with a 'between user' design. Twenty screen maps were presented in a random order to each participant...

This paper focuses on improving the efficiency and effectiveness of dynamic and interactive maps in relation to the user. A label placement method with an improved algorithmic efficiency is presented. Since this algorithm has an influence on the actual placement of the name labels on the map, it is tested if this efficient algorithms also creates m...

The main goal of this research is to set a group of typographic criteria to suit a wide array of map users. A group of Bertin's visual variables were applied individually and associatively for the same set of labels. Two kinds of maps (with point and areal objects) were presented to expert and non-expert map users and analysed accordingly. Addition...

Considering label as one of the important map component, this paper is an attempt to provide empirical evidence of label size design rules and frames which is based on the design aesthetics and efficiency. Determining the textquoteleft besttextquoteright} legible label size is critical concern involves testing design aspect and needs. Both aestheti...

In this dissertation, Kristien Ooms investigates how novice and expert map users read, interpret, store, and use the visual information presented on screen maps. A combination of techniques is applied during a number of subsequent user studies, which focussed on different aspects on the users’ cognitive processes. The obtained eye tracking data, re...

Conventional analyses on eye movement data only take into account eye movement metrics, such as the number or the duration of fixations and length of the scanpaths, on which statistical analysis is performed for detecting significant differences. However, the spatial dimension in the eye movements is neglected, which is an essential element when in...

This paper describes the statistical comparison of the results from an experiment with a textquoteleft between usertextquoteright-design. The first group of participants consists out of novices whereas the second group consists out of experts which have experience in map use and have had training in cartography. The same stimuli (twenty screen maps...

This paper investigates the applicability of Bertin‟s variables -both individually and combined - on texts and labels. A user study was conducted in which two types of map users had to express their preference towards the applicability of these variables on texts and labels. The first group consists out of participants who have been trained in cart...

This paper proposes a 3D inclusion test which enables processing very large datasets in a limited amount of time. Each point in the dataset is provided with a label according to its location relative to a polyhedron. These 3D objects can be modeled in a number of ways, related to its purpose or application in which it is used. The two representatio...

In this paper the results of a visual analytics approach on eye movement data are described which allows detecting underlying patterns in the scanpaths of the usertextquoteright s during a visual search on a map. These patterns give insights in the user his cognitive processes or his mental map while working with interactive maps.

Recently, the use of eye tracking systems has been introduced in the field of cartography and GIS to support the evaluation of the quality of maps towards the user. The quantitative eye movement metrics are related to for example the duration or the number of the fixations which are subsequently (statistically) compared to detect significant differ...

Fifty years after the last report of Mycobacterium ulcerans infections (Buruli ulcer [BU]) in Kasongo Territory, Maniema Province, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), we conducted a small-scale cross-sectional survey to assess if this historical BU focus was still active and if so to explore the disease epidemiology. Seventy-five active and inactiv...

Flood risk communication plays an important role in risk management, because it can strengthen people's risk awareness and can motivate them to take precautionary actions. To inform the public about flood risks, the use of flood maps is encouraged by the recent EU Flood Directive (2007/60/EC). Mapping flood risks deals with the challenges of repres...

In this study the user side of the label placement problem - on dynamic and interactive maps - is considered. The goal of the study is to gain insight in the usertextquoteright s cognitive processes while performing a task on a dynamic map. The eye tracking method is selected in order to get in touch with this cognitive map. The method is integrate...

Today, dynamic and interactive maps are found everywhere on the Internet. Efficient map labelling algorithms have been a subject of research for many years now. The investigation of the user-side of the problem is often neglected. A user study is planned to get an insight in the cognitive processes of users while handling these interactive maps. In...

Three-dimensional models allow efficiently storing, analyzing and monitoring the geographical space around us by means of proper threedimensional objects which can be manipulated and queried. During the past decade or so, the collection of three-dimensional data has been facilitated and the data itself has been improved significantly, both qualitat...

In this paper, the effectiveness of certain aspects of the label placement method on dynamic and interactive maps towards the user is examined. Reducing the number of labels which need to be considered by the method will drastically improve its efficiency. A user study is constructed to test whether these adaptations have an influence on the effect...