Initial Idea: Visual Input & Spatial Navigation
Research Topic:
How visual position and visual field affect people’s navigation trajectory in building.
Inspired Ideas:
The axial line graphic in Space Syntax:
On one hand
When navigate in space, people turn to maximise information collected from visible area to UNDERSTAND it and then move to another.
The axial lines are lines that represent the longest visual line which can collect maximum information at natural visual field (h:124, v:120)
Therefore axial lines in each convex space are able to mapping the navigation route within a building (or street system)
On the other
Spatial cognition affects people’s understanding of space.
Spatial configuration affects spatial cognition.
Therefore, sophisticated spatial configuration can guide people’s spatial navigation in an intended way.
But nowadays, when walking on street, people tend to watch their phones instead of the city, which take the potential of changing VISUAL INPUT from city surface. So,
Will the changing visual input affect people’s navigation trajectory in space?
If yes, if the navigation trajectory is not the hypothetical axial lines in space syntax will it have sequential affects on spatial navigation and therefore affect the way we design spatial configurations?
Approach:
Using two webcams to mimic visual mechanical system.
Take experiments on how people navigate in space with their own eyes replaced by the “webcam eyes”.
Take webcams in a pair and change them into DIFFERENT eye levels (different location on head or even on the body) to see how people will navigate in space WITH THEIR EYES ON DIFFERENT LOCATION.
Treat two webcams separately and changing them to opposite direction but kept on NORMAL eye level, to see how people will navigate in space WITH EACH EYE ON DIFFERENT LOCATION.
Introduce more cameras to see if MORE VISUAL INPUT will affect human navigation in space.
Technical problems that need to be solved:
Connect two webcam to smart phone
Display sense of distance in real world on visual input interface (phone screen)
Screen shooting on smartphone
Trace human movement in building in a proper way
Data collection:
Navigation trajectories.