Above and Beneath the Ground – Underground Navigation with Spatial Virtual Reality and Projection Mapping

10/31/2023

Subway stations serve as vital hubs for everyday commuters. Proper infrastructure and network design of the subway systems in large cities such as New York City, Shanghai, London, and Tokyo are paramount for the livelihood and safety of inhabiting citizens. 

1 Navigation underground

Navigating underground spaces is different from its street-level counterpart due to spatial factors such as lighting conditions, acoustics, and air circulation. All of these influence commuters’ orientation and navigational perspectives.

1.1 Monolithic spatial characteristics

The subway stations feature a linear layout, dictated by the bi-directional arrangement of train tracks. This sequential alignment of structural columns, standardized staircases, and elevators creates a rhythmic aesthetic but can lead to a sense of uniformity across vast distances. Additionally, many underground transit systems adhere to specific architectural guidelines. For instance, the New York City subway system, under the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), maintains its own set of building standards and specifications to ensure spatial quality and establish benchmarks for other components like structure systems, electrical networks, mechanical mechanisms, and communication frameworks.

The sequential linear alignment of spatial elements in subway stations creates a rhythmic aesthetic but also a sense of uniformity across vast distances.

1.2 Limited Visibility

The linear design of underground station spaces also results in restricted sight lines that can be easily obstructed by building structures, equipment, and moving crowds. Signage placed along platforms, suspended from ceilings, or affixed to columns may be prone to obstructions and missed by commuters.

1.3 Noise distraction

Noise has been demonstrated to negatively impact human cognitive capacity. Researchers found that mental workload and visual/auditory attention is significantly reduced when the participants are exposed to noise (Jafari, 2019). Underground transit systems are particularly susceptible to heightened acoustic disturbances, such as train noise, broadcasts, and the cacophony of moving crowds. These noise factors can drain commuters' mental energy and reduce their attention spans.

2 Spatial Navigation tools

2.1 Usage of physical maps

Physical maps are created to document the survey of geospatial information. Users of physical maps need to understand the spatial information in 2D and translate it into a meaningful representation of their 3D environment.

2.2 Shift to digital assistants

With the widespread use of mobile devices and position-detecting technology, now we can gain digital navigating assistance through digital interfaces. Outdoor navigation systems use global positioning systems (GPS) to track the location of the user, which is not effective in an indoor environment. Other technologies (such as WiFi, Bluetooth, Beacons RFID, etc.) are needed to track the location of the user in indoor areas (Nikander et al., 2013).

3 Human perceptual system and cognitive maps

3.1 Wayfinding

The wayfinding tasks include the starting point, walking, decision points, and reaching the destination, which requires participants to gather information from environmental sources and utilize them for identifying their current location and orientation (Iftikhar & Luximon, 2023).

Previous research found that image information performed better in navigation tasks (Cheung, 2006). Similarly, images of particular landmarks from eye level are influential in enhancing orientation and navigation performance (Xia et al., 2008). 3D models of landmarks can also be influential as presented in the previous studies (Hoe et al., 2017).

3.2 Cognitive maps

Cognitive mapping is a process composed of a series of psychological transformations by which an individual acquires, codes, stores, recalls, and decodes information about the relative locations and attributes of phenomena in his everyday spatial environment. The individual receives information from a complex, uncertain, changing, and unpredictable source via a series of imperfect sensory modalities operating over varying time spans and intervals between time spans. (Stea et al. 1973)

Cognitive mapping is a psychological transformation process of complex environmental information.

4 Connecting the space above and beneath the ground

While we have an array of physical and digital applications at our disposal for above-ground environments, the same level of accessibility is often lacking in subterranean settings.

In contemporary well-maintained and well-managed buildings, structures, floor plans axonometric diagrams, or static mediums (i.e., signage, interactive kiosks) may be provided to the public for navigation purposes. However, each of these navigation aids comes with its inherent limitations.

To better get a sense of direction while moving underground, we need to quickly build cognitive maps. Due to the internal lack of outstanding or special spatial traits of monolithic station space and the limited environmental information underground, How can we help commuters quickly orient themselves and choose the optimized routes?

Served as a temporary stay space, subway station spaces are transitional nodes connecting its users to the above-ground space. Navigation underground is a task of finding a path linking to the outdoor environment. Can we introduce the connection with the spatial information system we already gained above the ground with the underground? Spatial Augmented Reality and Projection mapping are promising solutions.

5 Spatial Augmented Reality (SAR) and Projection mapping

Spatial Augmented Reality (SAR), as implemented with projection mapping, is part of mixed-reality technology with numerous applications. For instance, museums and cultural heritage sites use interactive projection mapping to superimpose virtual content on exhibited artifacts to offer visitors hybrid ways to explore the hidden characters of exhibited items. Researchers also use SAR to position and visualize the subsurface utilities for construction works (Mohamed, 2022).

Similarly, I propose applying SAR and projection mapping in subway stations to assist commuter navigation. Within the confines of our subway station spaces, the absence of distinctive landmarks or spatial cues can be effectively addressed through the utilization of SAR. Furthermore, the typically dim and uneven artificial lighting conditions provide an ideal backdrop for the implementation of projection mapping. The concept involves superimposing landmarks or uniform spatial elements onto the surfaces of the underground environment, encompassing walls, ceilings, and floors. This innovative approach would serve as a valuable tool for commuters, enhancing spatial orientation and overall daily user experience.

Merging spatial information above ground through Spatial Augmented Reality and Projection Mapping is a way to assist navigation underground.

Reference:

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Hoe Z. Y., Lee I.-J., Chen C.-H., Chang K.-P. (2017). Using an augmented reality-based training system to promote spatial visualization ability for the elderly. Universal Access in the Information Society, 16. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10209-017-0597-x

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aei.2021.101498.

Iftikhar H, Luximon Y. Wayfinding Information Syntheses: A Study of Wayfinding Efficiency and Behavior in Complex Outdoor Institutional Environment. HERD: Health Environments Research & Design Journal. 2023;16(2):250-267. doi:10.1177/19375867221134590

Jafari MJ, Khosrowabadi R, Khodakarim S, Mohammadian F. The Effect of Noise Exposure on Cognitive Performance and Brain Activity Patterns. Open Access Maced J Med Sci. 2019 Aug 30;7(17):2924-2931. doi: 10.3889/oamjms.2019.742.

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Nikander, J.; Järvi, J.; Usman, M.; Virrantaus, K. Indoor and outdoor mobile navigation by using a combination of floor plans and street maps. In Progress in Location-Based Services; Springer: Berlin/Heidelberg, Germany, 2013; pp. 233–249.

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