Doc at Natick Research Center Investigates How Soldiers Navigate

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Dr. Tad Brunye, a member of the Cognitive Science Team at the Natick Soldier Research Center, has been investigating how soldiers’ navigational choices are affected by spatial and non-spatial influences, reported recently in an article on the U.S. Army website.

That means that Brunye is trying to figure out how a soldier, who has a more demanding and sensitive time of it than the average person, deals with things such as landmarks, the sun, their own emotional state, tasks, skills and a host of other influences. Factors such as whether a soldier is hot or cold, hungry or tired, can affect their decisions greatly.

“We are still trying to identify and characterize the full range of spatial and non-spatial influences and how they interact with emerging representations of experienced environments,” Brunyé told the U.S. Army.

A key, but strange discovery made by the research center? People, apparently, will often choose a southern route because it means they feel they are going “downhill.”

The goal of the study is to help provide tips to soldiers to help them navigate better.