openemotionmap.org - Emotional response to space as an additional concept in cartography 
Georg Gartner 
Institute of Geoinformation and Cartography, Vienna University of Technology, 
Erzherzog-Johannplatz 1, A-1040 Vienna, Austria 
georg.gartner@tuwien.ac.at 
KEY WORDS: Cartography, Location-based Services, sensing emotions 
ABSTRACT: 
In this submission the concept is analysed, that the emotional relation and the degree of emotional response is structuring space and 
can therefore be relevant for human wayfinding. Possible measures for linking explicit links between person’s memory/ experience/ 
emotional response with the physical environment are investigated and possible applications for navigation systems are discussed, 
1. INTRODUCTION 
The rapid development of the mobile internet enforces the 
emergence of location based services. In addition to the more 
familiar car navigation systems, guiding systems for pedestrians 
are gaining in importance. In this context, the integration of 
attributes of spatial objects, such as landmarks, are widely ac- 
cepted as being a necessary component of guiding systems; 
however, it is not entirely clear how the main aspects of space 
should be modeled. This paper provides a new approach based 
on psychological and geographic literature to further our under- 
standing of navigation and way finding in ubiquitous environ- 
ments, and introduces the concept of the subjective or emotional 
element of space. 
Imparting spatial information usually involves cartographic 
presentation forms. Ubiquitous cartography methods including 
Location Based Services (LBS) can be seen as enabling new 
forms of cartographic communication processes. Navigation of 
our macro environment is a human ability that we tend to take 
for granted unless it fails. For example, we may get lost when 
visiting a new city. To find our way, we utilize various strate- 
gies such as relying on maps/technology created by others or by 
asking directions (other referent), or by searching using a spe- 
cific landmark as a referent point (self-referent). As we become 
more familiar with the landscape, we build our own cognitive 
map of the area and subsequently rely on and use it to find our 
way. Once mentally constructed, we may add to or update our 
cognitive map, but generally the initial map appears to be rela- 
tively permanent and can serve as an important way-finding 
reference. 
Lack of conscious awareness of the processes involved when 
performing tasks that activate and/or execute automated naviga- 
tion and way finding processes, raises questions about the role 
that subjective evaluations and emotions play in the develop- 
ment, retention, and use of navigation/way-finding maps. That 
is, immediate subjective feelings about--and therefore emotional 
associations with—space and especially landmarks, hence emo- 
tional landmarks, may be tied automatically to the cognitive 
processes associated with navigation and way finding. Conse- 
quently, an emotional representation may enhance or facilitate 
cognitive mapping. 
In order to explore this concept, in this paper a first review 
on existing approaches on conceptualizing emotional geogra- 
phies and methods of sensing emotions is reviewed. This pro- 
vides the basis for the argument that emotional responses to 
space are highly relevant as an aid in navigating our environ- 
ment. The article concludes with an evaluation of the relevance 
for investigating the role of emotional response to space in nav- 
igation and way finding. 
2. SENSING EMOTIONS 
Various methodologies have been tested and developed for 
sensing emotions, which is understood in this context as one of 
the psychological processes (perception, cognition, memory, 
emotion, behaviour, physiology) that devices and sensors can 
'experience' from (Westerink 2008). Different emotional ex- 
pressions (or states of emotions) have been identified in the 
context of sensoring, among them are anger, sadness, happiness, 
cheerfulness (Tosa et al 1994); neutral, joy, boredom, sadness, 
anger, fear, indignation (Mozziconacci 1995); anger, fear, sad- 
ness, joy, disgust (Scherer 1995); neutral, happiness, sadness, 
anger, fear, boredom, disgust (Scherer 1995) and fear, anger, 
sadness, happiness (McGilloway et al 1995). 
Several standard procedures exist for measuring the expe- 
rience-related processes (Westerink et al 2008): 
a. judgements & questionnaires (often elicited from the 
user, e.g., self-reports in the form of interviews or 
questionnaires) 
b. behavioural observations ; 
c. physiology recordings: e.g, ECG (electrocardio- 
gram), EMG (electromyogram), GSR (galvanic skin 
response), BVP (photoplethysmograph) 
The above measurements can also be automated to à certain 
extent, each type requiring a certain time period to come to 
relevant interpretation: For judgements & questionnaires this 
period is estimated to be several minutes, while for hela 
observations, it is more likely to be in the order of seconds an 
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