ArticleScientific reports2021
Rethinking GPS navigation: creating cognitive maps through auditory clues.
Article in Scientific reports, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed.
- Improving outdoor navigation for people with blindness using an AI-driven smartphone application and personalized audio guidance.Nature biomedical engineering · 2026Article
- The Contribution of Spatially Tuned Brain Cells to Human Navigation Performance.KN - journal of cartography and geographic information · 2026Review
- Integration of auditory and visual cues in spatial navigation under normal and impaired viewing conditions.Journal of vision · 2024Article
- Using spontaneous eye blink-related brain activity to investigate cognitive load during mobile map-assisted navigation.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2023Article
- Redesigning navigational aids using virtual global landmarks to improve spatial knowledge retrieval.NPJ science of learning · 2022Article
- Using virtual global landmark to improve incidental spatial learning.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Getting LOST: A conceptual framework for supporting and enhancing spatial navigation in aging.Wiley interdisciplinary reviews. Cognitive scienceReview
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
GPS navigation is commonplace in everyday life. While it has the capacity to make our lives easier, it is often used to automate functions that were once exclusively performed by our brain. Staying mentally active is key to healthy brain aging. Therefore, is GPS navigation causing more harm than good? Here we demonstrate that traditional turn-by-turn navigation promotes passive spatial navigation and ultimately, poor spatial learning of the surrounding environment. We propose an alternative form of GPS navigation based on sensory augmentation, that has the potential to fundamentally alter the way we navigate with GPS. By implementing a 3D spatial audio system similar to an auditory compass, users are directed towards their destination without explicit directions. Rather than being led passively through verbal directions, users are encouraged to take an active role in their own spatial navigation, leading to more accurate cognitive maps of space. Technology will always play a significant role in everyday life; however, it is important that we actively engage with the world around us. By simply rethinking the way we interact with GPS navigation, we can engage users in their own spatial navigation, leading to a better spatial understanding of the explored environment.
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.