Stripe maps: Improving map-based pedestrian navigation for smartwatches

Dirk Wenig, Johannes Schöning, Rainer Malaka, Brent Hecht

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

26 Scopus citations

Abstract

Map applications for smartwatches present new challenges in cartography, a domain in which large display sizes have significant advantages. In this paper, we introduce StripeMaps, a system that adapts the mobile web design technique of linearization for displaying maps on the small screens of smartwatches. Just as web designers simplify multiple column desktop websites into a single column for easier navigation on mobile devices, StripeMaps transforms any two-dimensional route map into a one-dimensional "stripe". Through a user study, we show that this simplification allows StripeMaps to outperform both traditional mobile map interfaces and turn-by-turn directions for pedestrian navigation using smartwatches. In addition to introducing StripeMaps, this paper also has a secondary contribution. It contains the first empirical comparison of different approaches for pedestrian smartwatch navigation and illuminates their pros and cons.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationMobileHCI 2015 - Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services
PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery, Inc
Pages52-62
Number of pages11
ISBN (Electronic)9781450336529
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 24 2015
Event17th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services, MobileHCI 2015 - Copenhagen, Denmark
Duration: Aug 24 2015Aug 27 2015

Publication series

NameMobileHCI 2015 - Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services

Other

Other17th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services, MobileHCI 2015
Country/TerritoryDenmark
CityCopenhagen
Period8/24/158/27/15

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was funded in part by the Klaus Tschira Foundation, a Google Faculty Research Award and the National Science Foundation (IIS-0808692). We thank Bram Meerten from Hasselt University who helped us with the implementation of the StripeMaps application and the study.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 ACM.

Keywords

  • Cartography
  • Mobile maps
  • Pedestrian navigation
  • Smartwatches

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