| id |
eaea2009_ohno_wada |
| authors |
Ohno, Ryuzo; Yohei Wada |
| year |
2011 |
| title |
Visibility of Guide Signs for Pedestrians in Motion: An Application of an Immersive Visual Simulation System |
| source |
Projecting Spaces [Proceedings of the 9th European Architectural Endoscopy Association Conference / ISBN 978-3-942411-31-8 ], pp. 107-114 |
| summary |
When we visit a complex railway station or a large shopping mall, we rely on guide signs to find our destination. These are not always helpful, however, since the sheer number of signs around us may distract us from picking up the necessary information. The presence of other pedestrians also adds to the difficulty by blocking our view. In crowded situations where we cannot disturb pedestrian flow, we must moreover be able to read signs while walking and paying attention to the people ahead. With the above in mind, the present study uses an immersive visual simulation system to examine the influence of observation conditions on sign detection and recognition by pedestrians in motion. Two experiments were performed for the present study. The first examined the readable range (readability threshold) of three types of sign lettering in motion. This served to determine conditions for the second experiment as well as to test the performance of the immersive visual simulation system. The system displays wide-angle images (180 degrees both vertically and horizontally) capable of filling viewers’ peripheral vision; viewers may also gain stereoscopic vision through the use of polarizing glasses. The second experiment examined the influence of various observation conditions on sign detection and recognition while in motion. The virtual experimental space, made to resemble a concourse in a large railway station, was 15 m wide and 3.5 m high. The subjects, nine university students, were asked to detect the target that was assigned one of the eight figures while moving through the virtual space at a walking speed (1.5m/s) and to tap a keyboard at hand when the target was detected. At the moment of the subject’s response, the distance between the observation point and the target in the virtual space was recorded. The factors tested were sign layout (density, aggregation, alignment) and presence of other pedestrians. The degree of influence of a factor was determined by analyzing the detection distance for a comparison stimulus versus for a standard stimulus as well as the ratio of targets detected. The experiments revealed that the readability of figures viewed in motion may differ from when they are viewed under static conditions. The following factors were found to be relevant to sign detection and recognition while in motion: 1) density of signs (amount of visual information), 2) smoothness of eye movement from one sign to another, and 3) allocation of visual attention. Although the results were obtained in virtual experimental settings, and the absolute numerical values therefore have limited meaning, the results nonetheless empirically clarify some of the mechanisms involved in the detection and recognition of guide signs by pedestrians. |
| series |
other |
| more |
http://info.tuwien.ac.at/eaea |
| full text |
 file.pdf (823,335 bytes) |
| references |
Content-type: text/plain
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Tanaka, M. and Sugawara, F. (2004)
 The influence affect user with mixture environment of the sign for movement, and indoor advertising sign: A case of JR East Tokyo Station
, Journal of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Engineering No. 585
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| last changed |
2011/03/04 08:45 |
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