Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
concept of
right-turn
in urban streetscapes, which not always show rectangular
intersections, and referring to suited landmarks such as, in this case, the
traffic lights
,
but not the trash cans, fire hydrants, or the faceless office buildings located at the
intersection. Thus, the capacity to generate landmark-infused spatial language is
also essential for smart human-computer interaction.
This, in a first instance, requires understanding of what a landmark is, i.e., formal
models, data, and algorithms for reasoning.
1.2
Related Concepts
From the definition and discussion above it becomes clearer that landmarks emerge
in the process of perceiving, learning and memorizing an environment in a particular
context, and that these memorized landmarks will be picked up in spatial reasoning
or communication processes. For objects in the environment to acquire landmark
quality these objects must somehow stand out. Furthermore, to contribute to the
embodied experience of the environment in which a person moves these objects
must be related to the human body and human senses. Using a classification relative
identifiable objects in
vista space
,
environmental space
,or
geographic space
. Vista
space is the space covering all objects that can be seen from a single viewpoint,
and with the naked eye. Examples are a room, an open plaza, or any other
vistas in streetscape. Environmental space is the space learned by locomotion—the
movement of the body coordinated to the proximal surrounds—and the integration
of this embodied experience. Examples are buildings that are learned only by
walking through, or city districts that are learned by walking or driving around.
All body senses, including sight (vistas), contribute to an integrated, coherent
mental representation of these spaces. Geographic space is the space larger than
environmental space such that it can be learned only from symbolic representations
such as maps. Examples are countries or even larger cities, which cannot be explored
completely by foot, car or another form of locomotion.
With these integrated layers of human experience and mental representations,
landmarks will be found at each level. Orientation is helped by outstanding objects
in vista space (“the keys are on the
table
”), in environmental space (“the
library
is around the corner”), as well as in geographic space (“
Cologne
must be in this
direction”). Having this more graphic image of landmarks at hand, it becomes
easier to draw boundaries around the concept of landmarks, and to discuss how
other things relate to landmarks. This way, objects that stand out on other than
vista, environmental or geographic scale are not considered to form landmarks.
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