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I. Giannopoulos:
"Gaze-Based Assistance for Collective Spatial Cognition";
Talk: Collective Spatial Cognition Specialist Meeting, Santa Barbara, California, USA; 2019-04-17 - 2019-04-19; in: "Innovative Research about Spatial Thinking by Human Groups", K. Curtin, R. Montello (ed.); Laboratory for Location Science, University of Alabama, (2019), 11 pages.

When we walk and interact in an unfamiliar environment, wayfinding can be very challenging. We have to select a proper route than will lead us to the desired destination, we have to orient in our surroundings, we have to monitor our environment while walking to ensure that we are still on the right track and finally we have to recognize the destination. Furthermore, while we are wayfinding, we are acquiring spatial knowledge, developing and enhancing our mental representation of the environment we are interacting in. Assistance aids can be utilized for this purpose, helping us to offload some of the relevant tasks. Furthermore, assistance systems can help us to coordinate our activities with others, communicate, as well as increase our knowledge concerning the relevant environment. An assistance system that knows what we have seen, what we are interested in and what we want to achieve can be effectively utilized to support the process of wayfinding. Eye tracking data can be a great source, close to our cognitive processes, that can be utilized for the extraction of this relevant information that will help to coordinate and manage the spatial cognition of a person or even of a larger group of people. This position paper demonstrates how research in the area of gaze-based assistance can be utilized for acquiring, organizing and utilizing spatial knowledge of a group of people through the example of a group of tourists.

When we walk and interact in an unfamiliar environment, wayfinding can be very challenging. We have to select a proper route than will lead us to the desired destination, we have to orient in our surroundings, we have to monitor our environment while walking to ensure that we are still on the right track and finally we have to recognize the destination. Furthermore, while we are wayfinding, we are acquiring spatial knowledge, developing and enhancing our mental representation of the environment we are interacting in. Assistance aids can be utilized for this purpose, helping us to offload some of the relevant tasks. Furthermore, assistance systems can help us to coordinate our activities with others, communicate, as well as increase our knowledge concerning the relevant environment. An assistance system that knows what we have seen, what we are interested in and what we want to achieve can be effectively utilized to support the process of wayfinding. Eye tracking data can be a great source, close to our cognitive processes, that can be utilized for the extraction of this relevant information that will help to coordinate and manage the spatial cognition of a person or even of a larger group of people. This position paper demonstrates how research in the area of gaze-based assistance can be utilized for acquiring, organizing and utilizing spatial knowledge of a group of people through the example of a group of tourists.

Wayfinding, Eye Movements, Gaze-Based Interaction, Assistance Systems, Collective Spatial Cognition