StripeMaps: Improving Map-based Pedestrian Navigation for Smartwatches.

Abstract

Map applications for smartwatches present new challenges in cartography, a domain in which large display sizes have significant advantages. In this paper, we introduce StripeMaps, a system that adapts the mobile web design technique of linearization for displaying maps on the small screens of smartwatches. Just as web designers simplify multiple column desktop websites into a single column for easier navigation on mobile devices, StripeMaps transforms any two-dimensional route map into a one-dimensional “stripe”. Through a user study, we show that this simplification allows StripeMaps to outperform both traditional mobile map interfaces and turn-by-turn directions for pedestrian navigation using smartwatches. In addition to introducing StripeMaps, this paper also has a secondary contribution. It contains the first empirical comparison of different approaches for pedestrian smartwatch navigation and illuminates their pros and cons.