VIDBE-Q Volume 68 Issue 2
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rapidly organize new information in order to be able to navigate within an urban
college campus. In this vein, the tactile map and the app provided valuable
information to travelers, and each had limitations.
● Broadly, young adult participants really appreciated the turn-by-turn
instructions while they were traveling, when this feature was working. There
were several times when participants needed to borrow a researcher's phone
to use when their own phone was not synchronized with the app.
● Several participants expressed that tactile maps were entirely novel tools to
them. While many found them hard to manage in poor weather conditions,
they expressed appreciation for giving them information about the whole
route. Some thought they might be more helpful for planning routes. Others
wanted to go back to find key landmarks that were represented on the map to
confirm their location after the route was completed.
● Generally, travelers expressed a great desire for technologies to be better
integrated, more intuitive, and more responsive to individual traveler
characteristics and needs.
● Both types of wayfinding tools can provide confirmation of in-route
information, as well as assisting individuals in building their own mental
maps of environments.
