B. Hecht

N. Wenig, D. Wenig, S. Ernst et al.

Landmark-based navigation systems have proven benefits relative to traditional turn-by-turn systems that use street names and distances. However, one obstacle to the implementation of landmark-based navigation systems is the complex challenge of selecting salient local landmarks at each decision point for each user. In this paper, we present Pharos, a novel system that extends turn-by-turn navigation instructions using a single global landmark (e.g. the Eiffel Tower, the Burj Khalifa, municipal TV towers) rather than multiple, hard-to-select local landmarks. We first show that our approach is feasible in a large number of cities around the world through the use of computer vision to select global landmarks. We then present the results of a study demonstrating that by including global landmarks in navigation instructions, users navigate more confidently and build a more accurate mental map of the navigated area than using turn-by-turn instructions.

B. Hecht, D. Gergle

This study explores language's fragmenting effect on user-generated content by examining the diversity of knowledge representations across 25 different Wikipedia language editions. This diversity is measured at two levels: the concepts that are included in each edition and the ways in which these concepts are described. We demonstrate that the diversity present is greater than has been presumed in the literature and has a significant influence on applications that use Wikipedia as a source of world knowledge. We close by explicating how knowledge diversity can be beneficially leveraged to create "culturally-aware applications" and "hyperlingual applications".

M. Soll, P. Naumann, J. Schöning et al.

The lack of certain types of geographic data prevents the development of location-aware technologies in a number of important domains. One such type of "unmapped" geographic data is space usage rules (SURs), which are defined as geographically-bound activity restrictions (e.g. "no dogs", "no smoking", "no fishing", "no skateboarding"). Researchers in the area of human-computer interaction have recently begun to develop techniques for the automated mapping of SURs with the aim of supporting activity planning systems (e.g. one-touch "Can I Smoke Here?" apps, SUR-aware vacation planning tools). In this paper, we present a novel SUR mapping technique - SPtP - that outperforms state-of-the-art approaches by 30% for one of the most important components of the SUR mapping pipeline: associating a point observation of a SUR (e.g. a 'no smoking' sign) with the corresponding polygon in which the SUR applies (e.g. the nearby park or the entire campus on which the sign is located). This paper also contributes a series of new SUR benchmark datasets to help further research in this area.

J. Schöning, B. Hecht, M. Raubal et al.

Virtual globes have progressed from little-known technology to broadly popular software in a mere few years. We investigated this phenomenon through a survey and discovered that, while virtual globes are en vogue, their use is restricted to a small set of tasks so simple that they do not involve any spatial thinking. Spatial thinking requires that users ask "what is where" and "why"; the most common virtual globe tasks only include the "what". Based on the results of this survey, we have developed a multi-touch virtual globe derived from an adapted virtual globe paradigm designed to widen the potential uses of the technology by helping its users to inquire about both the "what is where" and "why" of spatial distribution. We do not seek to provide users with full GIS (geographic information system) functionality, but rather we aim to facilitate the asking and answering of simple "why" questions about general topics that appeal to a wide virtual globe user base.