A Conceptual Model of Wayfinding Using Multiple Levels of
Abstraction
Sabine Timpf, Gary Volta, David Pollock, and
Max Egenhofer Theory and Methods of Spatio-Temporal Reasoning in Geographic Space, Pisa, Italy,
A. Frank, I. Campari, and U. Formentini (eds.), Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Vol. 639, Springer-Verlag, pp. 348-367, September 1992.
Abstract
Wayfinding is part of everyday life. This study concentrates on the
development of a conceptual model of human navigation in the U.S.
Interstate Highway Network. It proposes three different levels of
conceptual understanding that constitute the cognitive map: the
Planning Level, the Instructional Level, and the Driver Level. This
paper formally defines these three levels and examines the
conceptual objects that compromise them. The problem treated here
is a simpler version of the open problem of planning and navigating
a multi-modetrip. We expect the methods and preliminary results
found here for the Interstate system to apply to other systems such
as river transportation networks and railroad networks.
PDF
Sabine Timpf, 
Gary Volta, 
David Pollock, and
Max Egenhofer