This is my primary area of research, and covers navigation in virtual reality, the real world, and information spaces such as the World-wide Web. Information space navigation is one of the great human factors challenges of our time, and is associated with the Memories for Life Grand Challenge.
Current projects
| Navigation in Real and Virtual Spaces. In 2008/9, supported by an Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Fellowship for Experienced Researchers, I spent a sabbatical with Prof. Heinrich Bülthoff at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics. I was able to make extensive use of the Cyberneum's facilities to study the role of body-based (proprioceptive, etc.) information in navigation, and was one of the first people to use the Cyberwalk treadmill (right) for large-scale studies. |  |
Trien van Do, one of my current PhD students, is researching methods of supplementing our memory for where we travel in a lifetime's web browsing, having been awarded one of Leeds' Fully-Funded International Research Scholarships (FIRS). |  |
Recent papers
- Roy A. Ruddle, Ekaterina Volkova, & Heinrich H. Bülthoff. (2011). Walking improves your cognitive map in environments that are large-scale and large in extent. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction, 18, 2, Article 10. DOI=10.1145/1970378.1970384.
- Ruddle, R. A., Volkova, E., Mohler, B., & Buelthoff, H. H. (2011). The effect of landmark and body-based sensory information on route knowledge. Memory & Cognition, 39, 686-699. DOI=10.3758/s13421-010-0054-z.
- Ruddle, R. A. (2010). INSPIRE: A new method of mapping information spaces. Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Information Visualisation (IV'10), 273-279. DOI= http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/IV.2010.48.
- Dodds, T. J., & Ruddle, R. A. (2009). Using mobile group dynamics and virtual time to improve teamwork in large-scale collaborative virtual environments. Computers & Graphics, 33, 130-138. DOI= http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cag.2009.01.001.
- Ruddle, R. A. (2009). How do people find information on a familiar website? Proceedings of the 23rd BCS Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (HCI'09), 262-268.
- Ruddle, R. A., & Lessels, S. (2009). The benefits of using a walking interface to navigate virtual environments. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction, 16(1), 1-18.DOI= http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/1502800.1502805.
- Ruddle, R. A. (2008). Generating trails automatically, to aid navigation when you revisit an environment. Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, 17, 562-574.
Previous projects
- Understanding disorientation in cluttered virtual environments (EPSRC Grant GR/R55818/01 (2001-4)
- How can we reduce disorientation when people navigate in VR worlds? (British Council/Alliance 1999-2000)
- Human factors aspects of remote workstations (DERA 1999-2000)
- Navigating discontinuous virtual worlds: The role of cognitive maps and wayfinding aids (EPSRC 1997-8)
Previous PhD students
| Simon Lessels (2005) Thesis title: The effects of fidelity on navigation in virtual environments Funded by the disorientation in VEs EPSRC project |
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| Trevor Dodds (2009) Thesis title: Collaborative Interaction in Virtual Environments Funded by the a School of Computing scholarship |
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