Spatial cognition to redesign navigational aids

For more than twenty years, navigational aids have been developed to assist wayfinding, to optimize our journeys, and to reduce the associated cognitive load. While the challenge was initially to propose aids that were efficient and usable for everyone, the current development of such aids should incorporate human cognitive functioning. In this perspective, we propose an overview of the current knowledge in the field of spatial cognition in order to highlight the elements that should be considered in the conception of new navigational aids. The analysis of the literature based on the influence of internal and external factors on spatial representations leads to the definition of spatial expertise, an ability that we suggest considering in the conception of navigational aids inspired by human cognitive functioning. This approach, illustrated here in the field of spatial cognition, should give new insights into the links between basic and applied research.