With the "WayMaker" software construction kit, users can design layouts for virtual spaces. These layouts are arrangments of structural elements described by Kevin Lynch in his book, The Image of the City. WayMaker tranforms arrangements of districts, paths, edges, nodes, and landmarks into street scenes. The initial prototype fits roofs, facades, and other scene components into perspective views of pathways through an imaginary place, which resembles paintings by Cezanne. Our focus on the act of construction and on the use of Lynch elements as building blocks may suggest a model for users' extensions to graphical multiuser environments. Context In "The Lessons of Lucasfilms' `Habitat'," Morningstar and Farmer describe how the "inhabitants" of virtual environments need to feel comfortable in the domain, to the point of developing a sense of "ownership" (Benedikt, 1991). In MUD-like environments, people typically develop this sense by creating objects, characters, and rooms or other spaces, and adding them to the environment for others to enjoy (Curtis, 1992; Rheingold, 1993; Bruckman & Resnick, 1995; Mitchell, 1995; Turkle, 1995). This constructive component is the basis for considering such virtual domains potentially interesting as learning environments (Harel & Papert, 1991; Kafai & Resnick, 1996; Moshell & Hughes, 1996; Strohecker, in press). The work described here focuses on participants' development of the space itself. Our "WayMaker" construction kit enables people to create and/or extend representations of a virtual place. We use the metaphor of a village or city because it enables us to think of the space in both structural and social terms. Contribution WayMaker is based on Kevin Lynch's foundation work in the field of urban planning and design. He studied ...

Nearly forty years ago, Kevin Lynch (1960) described the environmental image in terms of five structural features: districts, edges, paths, nodes, and landmarks. Though the work has been much criticized, even by Lynch himself, it may provide a basis for a computational tool useful both in design and in research on spatial cognition. This paper revisits Lynch's responses to criticisms as a means of ascertaining the potential merit of the prototypical tool, called "WayMaker." In addressing Lynch's concerns about his own method and results, we see that WayMaker and tools like it may support Lynch's value of participatory design, while enabling extension of his efforts to understand how people think about the spaces they inhabit. The paper includes discussion of methods for research in spatial cognition and potential use of WayMaker within graphical environments supporting virtual communities.

Two software applications illustrate principles of microworld design. WayMaker is a tool for constructing maps and virtual scenes of cityscapes. With Bones, users build cartoon-like skeletons from images of dinosaur bones, and experiment with simulated legged locomotion in animating the creatures. Each kit is both a learning environment and a tool for learning research.

WayMaker" is a tool enabling non-professionals to create digital layouts for large-scale graphical virtual environments. The design tool is based on "elements of the city image" as described by the urban planner, Kevin Lynch (1960). Ultimately, WayMaker should be situated within a virtual environment so that output from the tool is transformed as extensions to the virtual world. Here we describe an initial prototype that simulates a virtual domain through a series of composited frames. Our work with users informs continued development of the tool. We also plan usage studies conducted from a cognitive science perspective, examining issues of constructive learning and spatial cognition. This work may not be copied or reproduced in whole or in part for any commercial purpose. Permission to copy in whole or in part without payment of fee is granted for nonprofit educational and research purposes provided that all such whole or partial copies include the following: a notice that such copying is by permission of MERL - A Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratory, of Cambridge, Massachusetts; an acknowledgment of the authors and individual contributions to the work; and all applicable portions of the copyright notice. Copying, reproduction, or republishing for any other purpose shall require a license with payment of fee to MERL - A Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratory. All rights reserved. Copyright MERL - A Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratory, 1998 201 Broadway, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 2 Long ago the urban theorist Kevin Lynch pointed out the fundamental relationship between human cognition and urban form --- the importance of the learned mental maps that knowledgeable locals carry about inside their skulls. These mental maps, together with the landmarks and ed...

This short paper presents continued work on a design tool presented at CHI '97 [7] and further described in WP99-01 and [8, 9]. WayMaker is a tool for mapping the layouts and structural features of graphical virtual environments. The tool is based on principles of mental mapping familiar to urban designers and planners. Here we describe usage sessions with practitioners in these disciplines. The observations are influencing development of a new version of the prototype.