Younger generations may lack the traditional map-reading skills needed to navigate if a cyber attack or widespread internet outage forces a return to paper maps, experts have warned.
With nearly 100% of 16 to 24-year-olds owning a phone, most have never had to use an A to Z or Collins road atlas, once navigational essentials in every household. The reliance on Google Maps and satnavs has made the traditional map something of an outdated library relic.
Spatial awareness decline
Michael Bond, a human behaviour expert, said people were losing a sense of spatial awareness and a 'connection to the landscape' as a result of relying on technology for getting around. He explained that the spatial part of the brain is 'completely inactive' when using tools such as Google or Apple Maps.
However, Bond added that it was always possible to revive such skills. 'I don't think we ever lose that possibility. The brain is pretty efficient in its use of resources', he told Daily Mail. He said the extent to which people would cope without GPS would depend partly on how well they remember their regular routes, with many likely to struggle outside their normal neighbourhoods.
Comparison to calculators
Ramsey Faragher, chief executive of the Royal Institute of Navigation, compared the impact of digital navigation tools to the advent of calculators, which removed much of the need for everyday basic mental arithmetic. He said some of the effects of an internet blackout on wayfinding would be mitigated by 'reasonably good' road signage in the UK.
Andy Gardiner, head of research at Ordnance Survey, said that digital wayfinding had undoubtedly helped people travel with more confidence but that spatial awareness is developed with active engagement with the environment and landmarks and forming connections between places. 'Recognising landmarks, understanding directions, and knowing how to use a map can provide people who are navigating with confidence when technology isn't available', he said.
Concerns over internet failure
Some worry that a sudden internet failure or cyber incident could be equally if not more damaging for machines as opposed to humans. Roger McKinlay, the former president of the Royal Institute of Navigation and part of the team that built the first GPS systems in the 1980s, said humans were instinctively better at positioning and navigation than many computer systems.
He said even many large systems that rely on GPS, such as the maritime industry, are resilient and frequently survive without it. But he added that a general loss of wayfinding skills was a 'problem waiting to happen'. Last week, the chief of the UK's National Cyber Security Centre said the country must be prepared for an attack on its critical infrastructure, which is embedded in all parts of civil life, from transport to defence and energy systems.
