Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

This thesis examines how digital navigation systems influence spatial awareness, spatial knowledge acquisition, and the emotional experience of navigating unfamiliar urban environments. While previous research has demonstrated the efficiency and convenience of digital tools when navigating, their broader cognitive and experiential implications remain less consistently explored. Building on existing work in spatial cognition and environmental perception, this study investigates how digital devices shape navigational strategies and engagement with urban space. A mixed-method approach was employed, combining in-field navigation tasks, a cognitive mapping exercise, and semi-structured interviews. Participants (N=10) were divided into two groups: one navigating with digital assistance and the other using written instructions. The findings largely confirm earlier research by indicating that digital navigation promotes a more efficiency-oriented yet passive approach of movement, characterised by reduced cognitive effort and increased reliance on the device. In contrast, non-digital navigation encourages more active and self-directed engagement, supporting richer spatial awareness while evolving cognitively richer representations of space. Emotional experiences also diverged where non-digital navigation generated greater sensory engagement and affective connection to the urban environment, while digital navigation produced smoother but less immersive experiences.
Overall, the study suggests that digital navigation systems do not necessarily diminish navigational abilities, but rather configure how individuals interact with and attend to space, often at the cost of perceptual richness and spatial learning. These findings reinforce the importance of considering, not only the functional benefits of navigation technologies, but also their influence on spatial experience. Future research may further explore how digital tools can be designed to better support both efficient navigation and meaningful engagement with urban environments.