Round Table Discussion on Navigation

Perceptual Navigational Principles.

1.      Perceptual Invariants and Regularities used by Ball Players. 
Developing and field testing mathematical perceptual models of how players pursue and intercept projectiles like balls and frisbees.  Modeling the geometry of space perception.

2.      Insect Navigational Heuristics.
Characterizing aspects of the predator-prey, and foraging behavior of ants and bees.

3.      Object Recognition and Perceptual Scene Representation.
 Characterization of perceptual regularities that humans use to parse, orient, and identify perceived objects, landmarks, and terrains.

4.      Auditory Scene Analysis.
Modeling ways to process and represent the acoustic signals that guide auditory source parsing in cetaceans and humans.

5.      Imagery and Spatial Reasoning of Children and Special Needs Populations. 
Characterizing the perception and representation of space for developmental and special needs populations such as the visually impaired.

Sensory Spatial Navigational Applications.

1.      Mobile Robotics and Automated Perceptual Systems.
Design and testing of mobile robots that autonomously intercept balls by utilizing invariant principles articulated in perception research.  Examination of the generalizability of 2-D perceptually based dynamic tracking algorithms to 3-D platforms using flying mobile robots.

2.      Robotic Robustness Testing for Noise and Complexity.
 Examination of the impact of different kinds of noise and variation in perceptual threshold limits for mobile tracking robots.  Testing and refining robotic tracking behavior under conditions with increasingly complex dynamic target trajectories and terrain variation.

3.      Somatosensory Spatial Systems.
 Design and development of somatosensory haptic and proprioceptive devices that can be used in virtual environments to help simulate navigational movement, and augment perceptual realism.  Work includes characterization of the perception of body tilt and exploration and development of new ideas for interactive treadmill devices .

4.      Virtual and Augmented Environments.
 Investigation of interaction between perceptual and technological constraints.  Optimum parameter selection in the design and implementation of virtual and augmented environments. Development of perceptually advantageous methods with which to represent virtual objects.  Development of perceptually-tuned spatio-temporal compression algorithms and ways to represent moving objects.

Metaphorical Spatial Navigational Applications. 

1.      Pictorial Search and Navigation in Cyberspace.
 Extraction of tracking and locomotion information from images of both still and moving objects.  The combination of spatio-temporal characteristics in conjunction with contextual clues to analyze psychophysical principles of planning and action, as motivated in the baseball catching example. Use of perceptual regularities in development of novel pictorially-based search algorithms for multimedia data bases; methods based on object characteristics like color, shape, orientation, texture, motion and sound.

2.     Internet Navigation Theory: Hit, Miss or Bust.
 Theoretical study of web search processes and application of game/systems theoretic ideas where one may "hit" (progress toward goal), "miss" (diverge from goal) or "bust" ("pagejacking" along with a destruction of history.)  Development of web navigation search engines based on metaphorical spatial structures to improve usability (Berry & Browne, 1999). Implementation of spatial reasoning principles within dynamically created web pages that cater to requests and actions of users.

3.      Spatial Presentation and Artifact Design.
Exploration of spatial methods of presentation and interaction that enhance the speed and design ease for the creation of mechanical objects.  Design of modeling software that exploits human spatial expertise in contrast to the current painstaking method of creating shapes by hierarchically combining features, surfaces, and curves.

4.      Web Navigational Tools for Individuals withDisabilities.
Development of alternate/multimodal approaches to web design and presentation that allow equal access for all users. Work includes the exploration of alternate computer icons such ones based on auditory, tactile, or large-size adaptations.  The goal is to make improved iconic mappings which are more accessible to users with a wide range of print disabilities, including visual and learning disabilities.

5.      Intelligent Transportation Planning and Mapping.
Development of new methods of planning, monitoring, and displaying vehicular and pedestrian traffic patterns.  Integration of remote traffic-monitoring cameras and methods of representing dynamic flow information on the web.