In-Car GPS Navigation: Engagement with and Disengagement from the Environment

In-Car GPS Navigation: In-Car GPS Navigation: Engagement with and Disengagement Engagement with and Disengagement

from the Environmentfrom the Environment

Gilly LeshedGilly Leshed11, Theresa Velden, Theresa Velden11, Oya Rieger, Oya Rieger22, , Blazej KotBlazej Kot11, Phoebe Sengers, Phoebe Sengers11

11Information Science, Information Science, 22CommunicationCommunication

Cornell UniversityCornell University

December 26, 2007

Garmin GPS -- one of the top-selling holiday items in 2007 at Amazon.com

Driving and navigating with in-car GPSchange engagement with the environment

Outline

• Theoretical framework– Losses vs. opportunities– Space and place

• Field study– Navigation– Orientation– The experience of driving

• Implications and Conclusions– The broader context– Design implications

Outline

• Theoretical framework– Losses vs. opportunities– Space and place

• Field study– Navigation– Orientation– The experience of driving

• Implications and Conclusions– The broader context– Design implications

• GPS relieves the need to observe the environment while driving and navigating (Aporta & Higgs, 2005)

Loss of engagement

• GPS provides new forms of interacting with the environment (Dourish, 2006)

Opportunity for engagement

Losses vs. opportunities

photo: www.alaska-in-pictures.com

Space and Place

• Space – abstract, open, allows movement

• Place – concrete, stable, represents pause, has value(Tuan, 1977; Harrison & Dourish, 1996)

• Participating in the environment creates a sense of place in a blurred space

• Interacting with technological spaces and places in GPS affects interaction with physical spaces and places

Space and Place

• Space – abstract, open, allows movement

• Place – concrete, stable, represents pause, has value(Tuan, 1977; Harrison & Dourish, 1996)

• Participating in the environment creates a sense of place in a blurred space

• Interacting with technological spaces and places in GPS affects interaction with physical spaces and places

Outline

• Theoretical framework– Losses vs. opportunities– Space and place

• Field study– Navigation– Orientation– The experience of driving

• Implications and Conclusions– The broader context– Design implications

Field study of in-car GPS users

Participants• 10 users of in-car GPS systems

Method• Used own devices

or friends’/family’s• 5 pre-planned rides

5 artificial trips• 1-3 hours

observation & interview

Data• Field notes • Audio-recordings

Results:1. Navigation

Pre-navigation/route choice• Key in destination, no need to know where it is• GPS calculates route based on settings – not

necessarily matching driving experiences

“it gave us some bizarre routes to get back to Ithaca… turns out that the toll road setting was on [laughs]. I ignored it… and we figured it out later.”

Route following• No need to attend to objects along the

way: blindly following vocal directions• GPS automatically calculates new route

when instructions not followed• But – Glance at the GPS map or bring

other navigation aids

Results:1. Navigation

“The only thing you have to do with the nav system is you have to learn what a quarter of a mile feels like, you know, otherwise it says a quarter of a mile and you think ‘Oh, I need to turn!’ and you turn too soon.”

• Getting lost and feeling lost• Free to explore

Results:2. Orientation

“it makes me much more confident to know that if I get lost I can find my way home again. I don’t have to stress about getting lost anymore.”

Social interactions around the GPS• GPS designed for driver-unit interaction

But many drive with others in the car

• Driver/navigator roles• But passenger can interact with GPS unit

Results:3. The experience of driving

“it used to be that whoever wasn’t driving was the navigator... And so if there was a mistake made, the navigator would say ‘Turn! Turn!’ and it would be drama. But now, if you miss a turn… it’s just automatic.”

Treating the GPS unit as a social agent• Naming the GPS unit: “Heather”, “Mrs. Prius”• Talking to unit in a social way

Results:3. The experience of driving

Go home!

Oh, I thought you were

talking to me

Interactions with the external environment• Interaction with virtual world drives interaction with

physical world(e.g. POI, road curvature on map)

• Physical space remains indistinct – places are in GPS

Vs.

Enriched interactions with physical spaces and places

Results:3. The experience of driving

“Remember when we all went white water rafting? We were in this really strange town and the GPS found us a place to eat.”

Discussion

• Loss of environmental engagement

• But also new opportunities for engagement

• Blurred boundaries between physical and virtual worlds

Outline

• Theoretical framework– Losses vs. opportunities– Space and place

• Field study– Navigation– Orientation– The experience of driving

• Implications and Conclusions– The broader context– Design implications

The Broader Context (1)

Commodification and de-skilling (Borgmann, 1984)• Navigation and orientation as commodity – no skilled

interaction with environment is necessary• Satisfaction from practicing skill replaced by comfort of

effortless consumption

The Broader Context (2)

Automobilization(Urry, 2004; Thrift, 2004)• The role of the car in detaching its passengers from their

surroundings

Design implications for environment awareness and interaction

(1) Navigate by landmarks(2) Support the car as a social place(3) Highlight ambiguity of GPS data(4) Extend context-aware capabilities

Design implications for environment awareness and interaction

(1) Navigate by landmarks(2) Support the car as a social place(3) Highlight ambiguity of GPS data(4) Extend context-aware capabilities

Design implications for environment awareness and interaction

(1) Navigate by landmarks

Design implicationsfor environment awareness and interaction

(2) Support the car as a social place

Conclusions

In-car GPS navigation alters how people interpret, navigate through, experience, and interact with spaces and places

– Immersion in technological environment and disengagement from physical environment

– New tools and information resources enrich travel experiences

Design implications for engaged environmental interactions– In light of larger socio-technical context of GPS as a paradigm

for technological devices and the automobile age

Thank you

gl87@cornell.edusengers@cs.cornell.edu

field researchHrönn BrynjarsdóttirEllie BuckleyLucian LeahuHeather MarciniecMeena NatarajanClaudia PedersonSadat ShamiHowyee Au Yong

adviceJeremy BirnholtzBarry BrownKirsten BoehnerPaul Dourish

$$$NSF IIS-0238132 NSF IIS-0534445