Abstract
We have been used to the system of arrow signs so much that we sometimes ignore how inconvenient they are in a certain places like underground hypostyle entrance halls for railway stations. It is true that arrow sign system is quite useful in linear place like crossings in stations and malls, however, in planar space, it is not fully efficient in terms of wayfinding. In this paper, the authors propose 2 hypothetical sign systems for planar space, and experimentally examine their effects in wayfinding in the virtual environment. The results show: 1) polar / rectangular coordinate sign system is more effective in reducing time for wayfinding than the arrow sign system, and 2) the polar / rectangular coordinate sign system is also superior to arrow sign system from the viewpoint of spatial perception.
