Loydell, Hugo; Hanna, Sean; (2024) Beyond Depth Cues: Lighting and visual complexity as factors in navigation. In: Proceedings of SSS14: The 14th International Space Syntax Symposium. Space Syntax Network: Nicosia, Cyprus.

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Abstract

Spatial configuration is central to Space Syntax modelling, either implicitly in methods such as axial line analysis (Hillier & Hanson 1984; Hillier 1996), or explicitly in visibility graph analysis (Turner et al., 2001) and visual agents (Penn and Turner, 2001), and in fundamental spatial principles on which these are based (Benedikt, 1979). Its effect on movement via individual navigation is mediated by the capacity of human vision, as demonstrated in observations of the link between visual fixation and route selection (Emo, 2014). Vision, however, is frequently unable to perceive spatial configuration accurately (McElhinney et al., 2022), and may be affected by other aspects of the environment with relevant influence on movement, which are not currently accommodated by Space Syntax models. This paper investigates two variables distinct from spatial configuration, light intensity and surface complexity, for their effect on route choice. A 3D game-like environment, implemented through Grasshopper within Rhino3D, was used to record the behaviour of human navigators exploring an irregular pattern of orthogonally placed, intersecting corridors, for which both light and complexity were varied. Routes were recorded for each journey, and gaze monitored using an eye-tracking headset developed for this experiment. Results reveal relationships between each of the variables and gaze, and between gaze and subsequent path choice. Compared with a baseline of all possible isovists within the environment, the gaze distribution of participants for all experiments has more distant mean and peak values, and this is most distant when light is varied. Movement, as assessed by path choice at corridor junctions, shows an expected overall correlation with path angle, but the relationship with other spatial variables, such as visible distance, varies significantly across the experiment when light and complexity variables are changed. Both variables are seen to correlate positively with paths chosen, with the effect of surface complexity being stronger when both are varied simultaneously. A causal chain can be inferred that suggests higher relative light levels draw the visual attention, and one or both of these then positively influence the choice of route in that direction.

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