Comparison of Configurational , Wayfinding and Cognitive Correlates in Real and Virtual Settings (original) (raw)
Related papers
2009
This paper is concerned with the role of topological configuration of building layouts in wayfinding and spatial cognition and with associated design strategies. Topological configuration is the structural hierarchy of individual spaces in a layout that arises due to the topological relationship of each space with all other spaces in the layout. This can be objectively measured by Space Syntax theories and methods. The paper discusses the beginnings of the concept and traces its development in cognition literature. It then describes a series of experiments done in three real hospital buildings and in a copy of one hospital that was produced in a virtual immersive reality (VIR). Those studies were reported individually in previous publications. In this paper a comparative analysis is presented which suggests that (1) wayfinding behavior is very similar in real and simple virtual settings, (2) topological properties of layouts as determined by Space Syntax analysis are important predi...
Space Syntax And Spatial Cognition
Environment and Behavior, 2003
Space syntax research has found that spatial configuration alone explains a substantial proportion of the variance between aggregate human movement rates in different locations in both urban and building interior space. Although it seems possible to explain how people move on the basis of these analyses, the question of why they move this way has always seemed problematic because the analysis contains no explicit representations of either motivations or individual cognition. One possible explanation for the method’s predictive power is that some aspects of cognition are implicit in space syntax analysis. This article reviews the contribution made by syntax research to the understanding of environmental cognition. It proposes that cognitive space, defined as that space which supports our understanding of configurations more extensive than our current visual field, is not a metric space, but topological. A hypothetical process for deriving a nonmetric space from the metric visibility ...
Ability and intelligibility: Wayfinding and environmental cognition in the designed
There seems to be a growing consensus in the literature that topological variables, both in the environment and in sketch maps, are reliable indicators of wayfinding performance. Additionally, there are other suggestions regarding the use of topological variables to characterize and measure overall environments. In this regard, it has been reported that topologically derived configurational measures may provide a better sense of the ease or difficulty that each environment may present to an immersed and moving subject within it. A clarification of such claims is an important focus of this paper. Regarding the externalization of cognitive understanding, the technique of sketch mapping has a long tradition. However, there are many ways by which these maps have been analysed. The inclusion of Space Syntax methods provides a new dimension. A comparison of Space Syntax with some other tools of sketch map analysis is a secondary focus here. These and other similar issues are explored thro...
Wayfinding and environmental cognition in the designed environment
There seems to be a growing consensus in the literature that topological variables, both in the environment and in sketch maps, are reliable indicators of wayfinding performance. Additionally, there are other suggestions regarding the use of topological variables to characterize and measure overall environments. In this regard, it has been reported that topologically derived configurational measures may provide a better sense of the ease or difficulty that each environment may present to an immersed and moving subject within it. A clarification of such claims is an important focus of this paper.
Linking the Spatial Syntax of Cognitive Maps to the Spatial Syntax of the Environment
Environment and Behavior, 2004
This article investigates the effects of the spatial configuration of the local environment on residents’ spatial cognitions of their built environment by examining the relationship between the spatial syntax of sketch maps and the spatial syntax of the environment. Hampstead Garden Suburb in London was investigated in detail. Structured interview surveys were carried out to elicit residents’ sketch maps of their local area. Analysis of the spatial characteristics of the area and of the sketch maps using space-syntax methods provided a common basis for analyses of these data. Strong correlations were identified between residents’ sketch maps and the spatial configuration of the area. The degree of local integration of spatial configuration is the most significant factor in relations with the two variables of sketch maps, the frequency of appearance of configurational elements, and the global syntactic characteristics of spatial configuration in sketch maps. Findings suggest that spa...
Where We Walk Is What We See: Foundational Concepts and Analytical Techniques of Space Syntax
Herd: Health Environments Research & Design Journal, 2018
The most difficult issue in writing a methods paper on Space Syntax is that it is not simply a method. It is a theory on which a methodology has been built. In the 40 years since introduction, both its theory and its methods have advanced, including the creation and development of computerized software. Essentially Space Syntax investigates layouts, seen in plan drawings; but this is done from mature theoretical arguments about function in those spaces. While theories of society were at the genesis of Space Syntax, it has branched into cognition, transportation, economics, and so on, and has been used to investigate buildings, cities, and regions. In the last decade or so, Space Syntax has been used in different ways to investigate healthcare facilities. This article concentrates on explaining the analytical techniques of Space Syntax. The theoretical underpinnings are minimally described-just enough for the reader to understand the basis of the methods. All examples provided are based on the same hypothetical hospital floor layout for ease of comprehension and comparison. Also, all Space Syntax concepts are italicized for identification. Since the theoretical aspects are not treated in detail, the reader is advised to pay particular attention to the citations for advanced comprehension. This cannot be overemphasized.
Bagh-e Nazar Journal, 2022
Problem statement: As a logical research system, the architectural space syntax method has been profoundly developed in recent decades. However, despite all its advantages, it has received serious criticism such as negligence of the individual and mental characteristics of the built environment, existential integrity of the human in the space, and analysis of the behavioral patterns based on the space configuration. The present study attempts to understand how such characteristics of space can be investigated simultaneously with the space configuration. This article assumes that using a weighted graph instead of a simple graph allows for determining the unique value of each space, leading to more precise and reliable results. Research objective: The article seeks to take into account the impact of mental components of space, apart from space configuration, on the movement and, consequently, the behavior of a human in an architectural building. The simultaneous analysis of the weights of mental components and space syntax can correct some defects of the current approach in space syntax analyses. Research method: The analyses performed in the study were both qualitative and quantitative. The integration and agent-based analyses, as two parameters related to the research subject, were performed to study the spatial organization of the Iranian Artists’ House through two approaches. The weights of the mental components were first determined using a simple graph and the depthmap software. In the second method, they were calculated using the AHP method and considered in the space syntax calculations. Eventually, the reliability of the outcomes was compared using the gate count method. Conclusion: The comparison of the two methods revealed that the results obtained from the weighted graph were more precisely in line with the movement flows in the space of the Iranian Artists’ House.
Environmental influences on spatial memory: A study with Space Syntax
2018
In this study we employed Space Syntax techniques to investigate the relation between environmental properties and spatial memory resulting from navigation of an unfamiliar environment. Participants first navigated two main routes in a virtual environment, memorizing the names and locations of buildings in them, and then carried out from memory a pointing task and a model-building task. In the pointing task, participants pointed more accurately to locations of high than low connectivity and integration. However, they pointed less accurately from locations of higher than lower connectivity and integration. This finding can be contextualized by broader memory phenomena (namely, the fan effect), whereby the ease of retrieval of a piece of information depends on its connections with other information. Additionally, both memory tasks here provide evidence that participants maintained the two routes they experienced as distinct representations. Together, our findings suggest that space sy...
2013
Using axial map representation, space syntax research has found that spatial configuration analysis correlates with patterns of the movement flows. “Intelligibility” a second order measure, defined as the correlation between connectivity and global integration has been proposed as a necessary condition for such correlates to occur i.e. when such condition is not fulfilled, correlates are not or less expected. In this paper we investigate the spatial configuration analysis of Toy Models that have been used to demonstrate issues of “intelligibility” along the spatial layout of labyrinths, mazes, and strict grid: we find inconsistencies. We show that these inconsistencies may arise because such Toy Models, Labyrinths and Mazes depart from the line distributions which display universal features independent of city size found in urban real world city or part of city. The main conclusions of this paper is that on one hand, the measure of intelligibility which space syntax research claims ...