Laurel Fais
Multimedia Route Descriptions:
Experimental Results
Abstract:The results of an experiment to determine the optimum configuration of drawing and
verbal description for the description of routes are discussed. Six groups of subjects
were given the same route via different combinations of drawing and language description
on a map presented on a computer screen. Subjects wrote the most accurate descriptions
of the route after hearing a detailed language description; whether or not subjects also saw
a drawing of the route did not affect their performance either on the written description or
on the post-experiment route-drawing task. Results from these tests and from user
comments indicate that the most effective means of presenting route information is with a
combination of visual and detailed language descriptions. Implications for multimedia
communication systems are discussed.