SemWay – Semantics for Navigation Systems

In recent years car navigation systems have gained noticeable attention due to broad availability and continuously decreasing prices. Technological advance in the area of mobile devices and mobile communication triggered a move towards portable navigation systems and has also prepared the market for mobile navigation solutions in new application domains including outdoor activities such as hiking or biking and wayfinding in urban regions, for example city walks.

The main goal of SemWay is to develop a methodology and models giving answers to the question how the process of human wayfinding can be supported by semantically enriched navigation systems in order to provide a meaningful interaction between wayfinders and the surrounding spatial environment.

SemWay is exptected to change existing navigation systems radically, particularly with regard to the underlying data models, data acquisition, the generation of wayfinding instructions and the communication of spatial knowledge in order to assist humans in wayfinding tasks. A proof-of-concept prototype will give evidence that semantically enriched navigation systems considering concepts of human spatial cognition allow for a meaningful interaction between wayfinders and the environment and thus optimise human wayfinding processes effectively.