Investigating pupil dilation during real-world wayfinding: effects of user, environment, and visual attention factors
Understanding the spatial and temporal dynamics of cognitive load during wayfinding is essential for designing adaptive navigation aids. While previous research has utilized physiological signals to infer cognitive states, few studies have examined how real-world environmental, user, and visual atte...
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Taylor & Francis Group
2025-08-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Digital Earth |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/17538947.2025.2542960 |
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| Summary: | Understanding the spatial and temporal dynamics of cognitive load during wayfinding is essential for designing adaptive navigation aids. While previous research has utilized physiological signals to infer cognitive states, few studies have examined how real-world environmental, user, and visual attention factors dynamically influence cognitive load in navigation. This exploratory study employed mobile eye tracking and pupillometry to examine inter-trial pupil dilation (IRTPD) as a proxy of cognitive load during real-world navigation. Thirty-seven participants followed predefined routes while their gaze behavior and pupil response were recorded. Using 16 influencing factors related to user, environment, and visual attention, this study modeled IRTPD through a linear mixed-effects model, achieving a conditional 63.6% R square and a marginal 7.8% R square. Results revealed that IRTPD increased near intersections, with more visible vegetation, and when fixating on people. Furthermore, IRTPD decreased with greater familiarity, sky visibility, time spent looking at maps or the sky, and increased distance from the starting point. Significant interaction effects revealed that gender moderated the impact of distance and attention-related factors on IRTPD. These findings improve our understanding of cognitive load dynamics during navigation and highlight the importance of integrating real-world gaze-based metrics and cognitive load monitoring into navigation system design. |
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| ISSN: | 1753-8947 1753-8955 |