New pedestrian navigation app to encourage exploration
Staff from Swansea University’s Future Interaction Technologies (FIT) Lab (based in the Computer Science Department) in collaboration with colleagues from The University of Glasgow and Nokia Devices, have developed a novel pedestrian navigation app for smartphone users to encourage exploration enroute.
Simon Robinson, based in Swansea’s FIT Lab explains: “The aim of this research is to remove the division of attention between a navigation device and the real world it describes. We created a simpler method for navigation where all the user needs to do is hold their phone in their hand. When they point the phone toward their goal it vibrates; when they point the wrong way it stops vibrating.
“People are guided in the general direction of their destination through this vibration, but we also adjust the feedback dynamically so that they are able to sense whether alternative routes are available, leaving them free to choose their precise journey.”
The project team, who are funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), presented their work at the Mobile Human Computer Interaction conference in Lisbon, Portugal, last week http://mobilehci2010.di.fc.ul.pt/index.html
An article also appeared in the most recent edition of the New Scientist Magazine http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20727775.800-navigation-app-gives-you-freedom-to-explore.html
For more information about the project visit http://cs.swan.ac.uk/~cssimonr/projects/i-did-it-my-way/
For more information about Swansea University’s Future Interaction Technology Lab visit http://www.fitlab.eu/
For more information about Swansea University’s Department of Computer Science visit http://www.swan.ac.uk/compsci/
