Isovists capture locomotion-relevant properties of space

J.M. Wiener, N. Rossmanith, A. Reichelt, and G. Franz Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics & Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Tbingen

1 Introduction & Objectives

! The systematic investigation of spatial behavior and cognition requires generic description systems for spatial form and configuration that capture behaviorally relevant properties of environments. Isovists (Benedikt, 1979) have always been conceived as closely related to spatial behavior. Indeed, case studies found correlations between isovist measurands and large-scale statistical pedestrian dispersal (Turner & Penn, 1999) as well as navigation performance (Wiener & Franz, 2004). Despite this evidence, the relations between visuo-spatial properties and small-scale locomotion behavior are widely unknown. The study presented here quantitatively explored correlations between isovist derivatives and behavior in architectural environments at the level of trajectories.

4 Analysis
! !
The analysis tested for participants performance with respect for finding the best overview place. Mean characteristic values describing subjects trajectories were calculated and compared to task performance as well as to global isovist measurands of the corresponding scenes. Example trajectories Displayed to the left are subjects trajectories for one of the virtual indoor scenes (room 15). Subjects heading during navigation and stop & reorientation points are marked. Shades of gray indicate the isovist area (neighborhood size) at the respective positions.
= trajectory = heading during navigation = stop, start, & end point = isovist area/neighborhood size

! !

2 Background
What are isovists?

! Isovists are a method to approximatively describe the spatial form of an environment by the 2D
viewshed polygon from a single observation point. Visibility graph analysis (Turner et al., 2001) is an integrative analysis of many isovists on a regular grid within one environment.

! From the isovist polygons several quantitative descriptors can be derived: e.g., area, perimeter
length, number of vertices, length of open / closed edges, etc. These measurands can be combined to further integrative characteristic values.

! Visibility graphs offer global mean measurands and allows insights in the variance and
distribution of the underlying data.

! For the purpose of these studies, a special isovist analysis tool was developed that is free
software: http://www.kyb.mpg.de/gf/anavis

area perimeter open edge closed edge

5 Results
Several strong correlations were found:
1.0 correlation coefficient r

mean jaggedness * *
correlation coefficient r

1.0

mean isovist area

vertices observation point

**
0.5 0.0

Trajectory derivatives overall navigation time (time) S of turning angles (angle) mean angular velocity (velang) mean locomotion velocity (vel) normalized overall distance (dist) number of stops per distance (stops) task performance (perf)

0.5 0.0

Applied isovist measurands

! ! ! !

isovist area, also called neighborhood size number of vertices of the isovist polygon jaggedness describes the convexity of isovist polygons: isovist perimeter / isovist area visual stability (revelation): S area adjacent isovists / isovist area

-0.5

-0.5 -1.0

**
velang angle time dist stops vel -1.0

**
velang angle time dist stops stops perf vel perf

1.0 correlation coefficient r

variance visual stability

correlation coefficient r

1.0

mean number of vertices ** ** ** **

3 Materials & Methods

0.5 0.0

0.5 0.0

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

-0.5 -1.0

** *
velang angle time dist stops vel perf

-0.5 -1.0

*
velang angle time dist vel perf

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

6 Discussion & Conclusions ! The results presented here provide first evidence that isovist and visibility graph analysis are
formal description systems that capture behaviorally relevant properties of spatial shape and configuration.

!
(9) (10) (11) (12)

Isovists and derivatives have predictive power for the overall performance of the chosen task. Furthermore, isovist and derivatives have predictive power for spatial behavior at the level of trajectories.

! ! !
(13) (14) (15) (16)

Isovists and derivatives therefore promise novel insights into the perceptual basis of locomotion. Future work will particularly address the interpretation of the mechanisms underlying the observed trajectories.

! ! ! ! !

In a navigation experiment 16 participants were asked to find the place offering the best overview (largest isovist) in each of 16 virtual indoor spaces (see figure above). Subjects were advised to approach this position as accurately and as quickly as possible. During navigation, participants positional and orientational trajectories were recorded. The experiment was conducted using a desktop virtual reality (VR) setup offering a simulated field of view of 90x63. Subjects interacted with the simulation using a customary joypad.

References
Benedikt, M. L. (1979). To Take Hold of Space: Isovists and Isovists Fields. Environment and Planning B, 6, 4765. Turner & Penn, (1999). Making isovists syntactic: Isovist integration analysis. Space Syntax II Proceedings Turner, A., Doxa, M., OSullivan, D., & Penn, A. (2001). F isovists to visibility graphs: a methodology for the analysis of rom architectural space. Environment and Planning B, 28(1), 103121. Wiener & Franz, (2004). Isovists as a means to predict spatial experience and behavior. Spatial Cognition IV, Springer, Berlin, Germany. In press.

2005-02-18

MPI for Biological Cybernetics, Spemannstrae 38, 72076 Tbingen e-Mail: gerald.franz@tuebingen.mpg.de http://www.kyb.tuebingen.mpg.de/~gf

Poster presented at the 8th Tbingen Perception Conference