How do people explore multiplex environments? What role do atria play in spatial navigation? These are critical questions for architectural design. However, few studies have examined the role atria play in visitors’ exploration of museums. Consequently, the relationship between free exploration and the design of atria in museums is not well understood. A pilot study in the Ashmolean Museum indicated that atria influence navigation. The Museum, therefore, lends itself as a case study to assess the impact of visual connections upon exploration and orientation. We present an experimental study with two conditions: a highly-detailed realistic virtual model of the building and a modified virtual model of the same building, eliminating the views crossing through the atria. Two hypotheses are tested: first, that visitors’ paths will be different depending on the amount of visual information they receive inside each experimental condition; second, that visitors’ ease of exploring and viewing the environment will also differ. Analysis confirmed that participants followed different paths in the two experimental conditions. Users visiting the exact model turned their heads around fewer times than users visiting the modified model. These findings suggest that atria play a significant role in nudging movement and affect the ease of navigation.

人们如何探索多重环境？心房在空间导航中扮演什么角色？这些都是建筑设计的关键问题。然而，很少有研究考察中庭在游客探索博物馆中的作用。因此，自由探索与博物馆中庭设计之间的关系尚不清楚。阿什莫林博物馆的一项试点研究表明，心房会影响导航。因此，博物馆适合作为案例研究来评估视觉联系对探索和定位的影响。我们提出了一项具有两种条件的实验研究：建筑物的高度详细的现实虚拟模型和同一建筑物的修改虚拟模型，消除了穿过中庭的视图。测试了两个假设：首先，访问者的路径将根据他们在每个实验条件下接收到的视觉信息量而有所不同；其次，游客探索和观赏环境的难易程度也会有所不同。分析证实，参与者在两种实验条件下遵循不同的路径。与访问修改模型的用户相比，访问确切模型的用户转头的次数更少。这些发现表明，心房在推动运动和影响导航的便利性方面发挥着重要作用。与访问修改模型的用户相比，访问确切模型的用户转头的次数更少。这些发现表明，心房在推动运动和影响导航的便利性方面发挥着重要作用。与访问修改模型的用户相比，访问确切模型的用户转头的次数更少。这些发现表明，心房在推动运动和影响导航的便利性方面发挥着重要作用。