ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors describe the authors's research program for developing a navigational information model and its results to date. Initial exploration of the literature showed that navigation is a complex issue involving the full range of human information processing—perception, cognition, learning, and motor responding—coupled with the specifics of the environmental and task demands. The authors reported that people with less extensive spatial knowledge of a particular environment selected highly salient but spatially ambiguous landmarks. They employed various types of naturalistic observations and laboratory studies, as well as semi-structured interviews. The authors examine navigation from several perspectives, because the goal of this research program is to build a model of off-road navigation that considers the interaction of the navigator-environment task. They create a screen prototype of an adaptive decision aid for off-road navigation called Navigational Aid (NAVAID).
