A comparison of four prompt modes for route finding for community travellers with severe cognitive impairments

Abstract

Primary objective: Navigational skills are fundamental to community travel and, hence, personal independence and are often disrupted in people with cognitive impairments. Navigation devices are being developed that can support community navigation by delivering directional information. Selecting an effective mode to provide route-prompts is a critical design issue. This study evaluated the differential effects on pedestrian route finding using different modes of prompting delivered via a handheld electronic device for travellers with severe cognitive impairments.

Research design: A within-subject comparison study was used to evaluate potential differences in route navigation performance when travellers received directions using four different prompt modes: (1) aerial map image, (2) point of view map image, (3) text based instructions/no image and (4) audio direction/no image.

Methods and procedures: Twenty travellers with severe cognitive impairments due to acquired brain injury walked four equivalent routes using four different prompting modes delivered via a wrist-worn navigation device. Navigation scores were computed that captured accuracy and confidence during navigation.

Main outcome: Results of the repeated measures Analysis of Variance suggested that participants performed best when given prompts via speech-based audio directions. The majority of the participants also preferred this prompting mode. Findings are interpreted in the context of cognitive resource allocation theory.