Navigation performance in virtual environments varies with fractal dimension of landscape

Fractal geometry has been used to describe natural and built environments, but has yet to be studied in navigational research. In order to establish a relationship between the fractal dimension (D) of a natural environment and humans’ ability to navigate such spaces, we conducted two experiments using virtual environments that simulate the fractal properties of nature. In Experiment 1, participants completed a goal-driven search task either with or without a map in landscapes that varied in D. In Experiment 2, participants completed a map-reading and location-judgment task in separate sets of fractal landscapes. In both experiments, task performance was highest at the low-to-mid range of D, which was previously reported as most preferred and discriminable in studies of fractal aesthetics and discrimination, respectively, supporting a theory of visual fluency. The applicability of these findings to architecture, urban planning and the general design of constructed spaces is discussed. [Display omitted] •Fractal geometry is used to model the complexity of virtual landscapes.•Navigation performance varies with landscape fractal dimension.•Individuals are better at target localization in low-mid complexity environments.•Results support a visual processing fluency theory for lower complexity fractals.