Distinct Roles of Route and Node Memory in Indoor Wayfinding: Evidence from a Virtual Reality Study

Abstract

Large public buildings often pose wayfinding challenges, which can affect users’ spatial experience and comfort. Understanding how people navigate these environments is important for both design and experimental research. How people navigate indoor spaces depends on how they remember paths and decision points. This study looks at how two types of memory – route-based and node-based -- affect wayfinding performance in virtual reality (VR) environments. Participants completed wayfinding tasks in four representative layouts and subsequently reconstructed their travelled routes and visited decision points. We analysed how route memory and node memory predicted wayfinding efficiency. The results show that in linear, corridor-like layouts, wayfinding performance is mainly linked to route memory. In layouts with open activity spaces at intersections or central nodes, node memory becomes more important. Some layouts showed no clear link with either memory type, suggesting that the influence of route and node information varies with spatial layout.These findings demonstrate that route and node memory play distinct roles in indoor wayfinding, influenced by spatial configuration, and provide empirical guidance for VR-based studies on spatial cognition and experimental design. Understanding these patterns can also inform building design and layout strategies to improve users’ wayfinding experience in complex indoor environments.

Keywords: Indoor Wayfinding, Spatial Cognition, Ergonomic Analysis, Virtual Environment

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1007953