How do voice-assisted digital maps influence human wayfinding in pedestrian navigation?

Voice-assisted digital maps have become mainstream navigation aids for pedestrian navigation. Although these maps are widely studied and applied, it is still unclear how they affect human behavior and spatial knowledge acquisition. In this study, we recruited thirty-three college students to carry out an outdoor wayfinding experiment. We compared the effects of voice-assisted digital maps with those of digital maps without voice instructions and paper maps by using eye tracking, sketch maps, questionnaires and interviews. The results show that, compared to the other map types, voice-assisted digital maps can help users reach their destinations more quickly and pay more attention to moving objects, thereby increasing the comfort levels of participants. However, the efficiency of voice-assisted maps on route memory tasks does not rival that of paper maps. Overall, the use of voice-assisted digital maps saves time but may reduce pedestrians’ spatial knowledge acquisition. The results of this study reveal the influence of voice on pedestrian wayfinding and deepen the scientific understanding of the multimedia navigation mode in shaping human spatial ability.

语音辅助数字地图已成为行人导航领域的主流导航辅助工具。尽管此类地图已得到广泛研究与应用，但目前仍不清楚其如何影响人类行为与空间知识获取（spatial knowledge acquisition）。本研究招募33名大学生开展户外寻路实验，通过眼动追踪（eye tracking）、手绘地图（sketch maps）、问卷及访谈三种方式，对比了语音辅助数字地图、无语音指引的数字地图与纸质地图的使用效果。实验结果显示，相较于其余两类地图，语音辅助数字地图可帮助使用者更快抵达目的地，且能让使用者更多关注移动物体，进而提升参与者的使用舒适度。但在路线记忆任务中，语音辅助地图的效率不及纸质地图。整体而言，使用语音辅助数字地图可节省时间，但可能会降低行人的空间知识获取效果。本研究结果揭示了语音对行人寻路的影响，并深化了学界对多媒体导航模式塑造人类空间能力的科学认知。