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Route generation and description using the notions of object's influence area and spatial conceptual map

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Spatial Cognition and Computation

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Abstract

In the GRAAD Project we aimed at creatinga system which could generate route directions thatare comparable to route directions created by humanparticipants. With this goal in mind, we started froma linguistic and cognitive study of route directionsproduced by people and the study of cognitive modelsof mental maps. We proposed a new qualitative spatialmodel that can support the spatial properties of humanroute directions. This model is based on the notion ofobject's influence area which is used to modelneighborhood, orientation and distance. The proposedapproach relies on the manipulation of spatialentities in a spatial conceptual map (SCM) which isthe computarized analog of a mental map used bypeople. We developped the GRAAD System, software thatgenerates routes in a SCM and describes them innatural language. Finally, we conducted an experimentin order to compare GRAAD's route directions androutes described by human participants in similarexperimental conditions. GRAAD's output was notdistinguishable from route directions created by humanparticipants. In this paper we present the mainresults obtained during all phases of the GRAADProject.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Computer Science Department, Pouliot Building Laval University, Canada

    Bernard Moulin

  2. Research Center on Geomatics, Laval University, Casault Building, Sainte-Foy, (QC), G1K 7P4, Canada

    Bernard Moulin & Driss Kettani

  3. Department of National Defense, Defense Research Establishment Valcartier, Canada

    Driss Kettani

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  1. Bernard Moulin
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  2. Driss Kettani
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Moulin, B., Kettani, D. Route generation and description using the notions of object's influence area and spatial conceptual map. Spatial Cognition and Computation 1, 227–259 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010045617505

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