First Confused, then Lost in the Shopping Centre - and Yet Helped

Who hasn't unsuccessfully searched for a specific boutique in a shopping centre at some point? Or lost their way back to the car park entrance? In such situations, some people's sense of direction reaches its limits.

A research team funded by the SNF has now investigated which strategies people use when navigating buildings with confusing layouts. And what kind of architecture might help.

Finding Ten Shops in the Virtual Shopping Centre

For this purpose, the researchers sent nearly seventy participants equipped with a VR headset through a virtual shopping centre. The real-life Westgate Shopping Mall in Singapore served as a model.

Their task was: In the building complex, with its perplexing number of floors and corridors, to find ten specific shops one after the other. Once achieved, four of the shops had to be revisited in a second round.

The researchers not only tracked the paths of the participants through the virtual shopping paradise but also observed where the seekers directed their gaze via Eye-Trackers integrated into the headsets.

At the end of the experiment, participants also had to create a 3D sketch of the building based on the map in their mind. A practice task ensured that they mastered the computer program used for this. Previous studies have shown that this method reliably converts mental models into drawings.

The analysis provided insights into how people orient themselves in unfamiliar environments. "Basically, there are two different strategies, although they can also be used simultaneously," says Christian Vater from the Institute of Sport Science at the University of Bern.

He conducted the study at ETH Zurich alongside Christoph Hölscher. The strategies were already known, but the team took a closer look at them using new methods.

Remembering a Plant or Mentally Noting the Paths

Some people remember easily visible landmarks. This could be, for example, a large plant or a conspicuous sculpture. "These so-called landmarks then serve as a kind of anchor to locate other places," says Vater. This type of orientation was well confirmed by the analysis of gazes.

Others remember the paths and junctions, thus essentially mapping the layout in their minds. The analysis of the drawings showed: The more accurate the 3D sketches of the shopping centre were—and these can be considered an indicator of the quality of the mental model of the environment—the more efficient the prior navigation had been.

"We found that the abilities in both strategies are very individual," states Vater. However, he believes that the ability to orient oneself can be trained, though this is still little researched. Depending on which strategy suits one better, one could either consciously focus on the landmarks or intentionally create a mental model of the building.

The Greater the Overview, the Better

The recording of paths and gazes also showed the researchers which architectural elements make orientation easier. Wide corridors, for example, were a great help. The gaze analysis revealed that the sought-after shops were already being looked at sooner in these areas.

An atrium, which allowed a view over several floors, also made life easier for the participants. A restaurant called "4 Fingers Crispy Chicken," which also exists in the real mall in Singapore, particularly stood out here. It not only attracted attention with its colourful appearance but was also visible from almost everywhere. As a result, participants particularly remembered this shop and almost always placed it correctly on their mental map.

"Eye-Tracking during the navigation task with a subsequent 3D sketch are suitable methods to examine the cognitive processes involved in wayfinding in building complexes. This study shows that for the first time," says Vater. Previously, researchers often worked with two-dimensional maps for such questions, which are unsuitable for multi-story buildings.

The use of virtual reality has also proven successful: As surveys showed, the participants were not additionally cognitively burdened by the technology. Comparisons with results from other studies in real environments confirm that the virtual shopping tour closely resembles a real one.

However, the studies also show that distance perception in VR is slightly worse than in the real world. And the so-called 'motion sickness' can cause discomfort for some. In the future, such analyses could help architecture firms design large building complexes in a more human-friendly way. Because, as Vater believes: "Visiting a shopping centre should ultimately be a pleasant experience."

Editor's note: Image rights belong to the respective publisher.