The brain is an amazing device , human spatial memory is an evolutionary development that is outstanding . Orators of the past spoke of the memory as a huge villa with each room containing a topic , it ’ s a technique still performed by those with exceptional memories . Yet , technology it seems , is diminishing this power of our brains .
Navigation is a skill that must be maintained otherwise our physical being soon loses the ability to retain information , a ‘ use it or lose it ’ skill , if you will . Recent studies have shown that drivers who solely follow a GPS Navigation device simply find it difficult to realise where they have been , it ’ s the opposite for those who use a map without direction . Many also failed to recognise that they had been past the same point twice or more . For emergency teams , often charged with rescuing stricken ‘ adventurers ’, this is becoming a point of concern .
The human brain has everything inbuilt that we need to navigate yet we ’ ve adopted an almost unhealthy reliance on technology to do this for us , a perfect example is the all too familiar requests for GPX files to navigate a route , perfect if time is short , not so if you plan on adventure and discovering new and interesting things . Following a blue line often results in many aspects of location being missed .
Studies in rats have shown that the brain has three types of cells that affect navigation . ‘ Place ’ cells , recognise certain locations ; ‘ head-direction ’ cells , understand the orientation of the head ; and ‘ grid ’ cells allow for coordination based on assessing scale and distance . A reliance on technology is diminishing the brains functionality of such cells , meaning a greater dependence on the technologies , and so the cycle spreads .
Technologies have come a long way . GPS systems are said to be accurate to within three metres , and the time taken to transmit between a user ’ s GPS device and the navigational satellites means that speeds and direction are within a few metres per second . For applications such as mass transit , shipping , airlines , etc this is perfect and has vastly reduced the number of accidents since the 1980s . However , the implications for the traveller , explorer , or adventurist are vastly different .
Despite developers continually improving navigation devices it seems likely that the human brain always outwits technology . Algorithms tend to look for similarities without taking into consideration outlaying factors , often leading to confusion or worst , we ’ ve all seen the images of cars being driven into rivers . Aircraft
TRAVERSE 140