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Human navigation simulation is critical to many civil engineering tasks and is of central interest to the simulation community. Most human navigation simulation approaches focus on the classic psychology evidence, or assumptions that still need further proofs. The overly simplified and generalized assumption of navigation behaviors does not highlight the need of capturing individual differences in spatial cognition and navigation decision-making, or the impacts of diverse ways of spatial information display. This study proposes the visual attention patterns in floorplan review to be a stronger predictor of human navigation behaviors. To set the theoretical foundation, a Virtual Reality (VR) experiment was performed to test if visual attention patterns during spatial information review can predict the quality of spatial memory, and how the relationship is affected by the diverse ways of information display, including 2D, 3D and VR. The results set a basis for future prediction model developments. 

Modern buildings with increasing complexity can cause serious difficulties for first responders in emergency wayfinding. While real-time data collection and information analytics become easier in indoor wayfinding, a new challenge has arisen: cognitive overload due to information redundancy. Standardized and universal spatial information systems are still widely used in emergency wayfinding, ignoring first responders’ individual difference in information intake. This paper proposes and tests the theoretical framework of a spatial information systems for first responders, which reflects their individual difference in information preference and helps reduce the cognitive load in line of duty. The proposed method includes the use of Virtual Reality (VR) experiments to simulate real world buildings, and the modeling of first responders’ reactions to different information formats and contents in simulated wayfinding tasks. This work is expected to set a foundation of future spatial information system that correctly and effectively responds to first responders’ needs.