Landmark-based navigation systems have proven benefits relative to traditional turn-by-turn systems that use street names and distances. However, one obstacle to the implementation of landmark-based navigation systems is the complex challenge of selecting salient local landmarks at each decision point for each user. In this paper, we present Pharos, a novel system that extends turn-by-turn navigation instructions using a single global landmark (e.g. the Eiffel Tower, the Burj Khalifa, municipal TV towers) rather than multiple, hard-to-select local landmarks. We first show that our approach is feasible in a large number of cities around the world through the use of computer vision to select global landmarks. We then present the results of a study demonstrating that by including global landmarks in navigation instructions, users navigate more confidently and build a more accurate mental map of the navigated area than using turn-by-turn instructions.
Landmarks do also play a role in designing pedestrian navigation aids for people with disabilities. For example, landmarks can be used to support low-vision and blind people in locating bus stops @cite_55 or to help mobility impaired users with navigating @cite_45 . In addition, landmarks can be used for other purposes in location-based services. For example, Kray and Kortuem @cite_46 interactively determined the user's positions based on the visibility of nearby landmarks. @cite_1 generated traveling routes from geo-tagged photographs.
@cite_46 @cite_55 @cite_45 @cite_1
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Landmarks are a key element in navigation and have been used extensively to provide navigation support to pedestrians through mobile devices in urban areas. Natural environments differ significantly from built environments in a number of ways including, for example, the degree of structure and regularity, the types and density of landmarks, and the way in which people navigate in those environments. In this paper, we investigate how people currently navigate 'in the wild', and whether landmark-based navigation support through mobile devices is a feasible option in such settings. We present results from two studies: a questionnaire-based study focussing on current practice and the use of landmarks, and a qualitative lab-based study using immersive panoramic photographs and photographs of (natural) landmarks investigating the feasibility of landmark-based navigation support in natural environments. The results indicate that a small number of means are currently used for navigation in the wild, and that certain types of landmarks might be feasible for navigation support on mobile devices. We also found initial evidence that immersive panoramic photographs may constitute a promising way to evaluate mobile applications. In visual navigation, landmarks can be used in a number of different ways. In this paper, we investigate the role of global and local landmarks in virtual environment navigation. We performed an experiment in a virtual environment called “Hexatown”, consisting of a regular hexagonal grid of streets and junctions. Each junction was identified by the presence of distinct local landmarks (buildings, phone box, and so on). Additionally, compass information or a global frame of reference was provided by global landmarks (hilltop, television tower, and city skyline). According to participants' movement decisions, egomotion was simulated, and displayed on a 180 deg. projection screen. Participants learned the route back and forth between two local landmarks. In the test phase, individual junctions were approached and the participant's movement decision was recorded. We performed two experiments involving landmark changes after learning. In the first, we used conflicting cues by transposing landmarks. In the second experiment, we reduced either local or global landmark information. Results show that both local and global landmarks are used in wayfinding decisions. However, different participants rely on different strategies. In the first experiment (cue conflict) for example, some of the participants used only local landmarks while others relied exclusively on global landmarks. Other participants used local landmarks at one location and global landmarks at the other. When removing one landmark type in the second experiment, the other type could be used by almost all participants, indicating that information about the neglected landmark type was present in memory. Navigation services communicate optimal routes to users by providing sequences of instructions for these routes. Each single instruction guides the wayfinder from one decision point to the next. The instructions are based on geometric data from the street network, which is typically the only dataset available. This paper addresses the question of enriching such wayfinding instructions with local landmarks. We propose measures to formally specify the landmark saliency of a feature. Values for these measures are subject to hypothesis tests in order to define and extract landmarks from datasets. The extracted landmarks are then integrated in the wayfinding instructions. A concrete example from the city of Vienna demonstrates the applicability and usefulness of the method. In the past people have used very different forms of directions depending on how those directions were acquired. If a person is giving another person directions in a familiar area, he will frequently use landmarks to describe the route [10]. If the person gets the route from a personal navigation system though, it will be displayed on a map and make use of street names for the directions. In this paper we present a system to automatically give landmark based navigation to pedestrians by using panoramic imagery to both find salient landmarks along a route automatically, and to present those landmarks to a pedestrian navigator in an immersive and intuitive manner. Our system primarily uses automatically detected business signs as landmarks, and currently works in a half dozen cities around the world. We have also evaluated our system and found that people can effectively navigate solely using landmark enhanced panoramas of decision points along the route.