This project is concerned with the characterization of spatial competence in intelligent systems. Spatial competence involves representing and reasoning about distance, shape, order, frames of reference, and other relations involving two and three dimensional extent, as well as using diagrams, models, and natural language to communicate such information.
Spatial competence is central to many disciplines and real-world skills.
Fields such as geography and astronomy and tasks such as navigation and map use involve spatial relations of objects in the world. Fields such as mechanics and organic chemistry and tasks such as assembling and troubleshooting machinery involve understanding spatial relations of parts of objects and their dynamic interplay. In addition, spatial representations are involved in high-level mathematical understanding, and in understanding the diagrams and data visualizations commonly used in many disciplines. Spatial competence is a fundamental aspect of intelligence, as identified at the behavioral, computational and biological levels. At the behavioral level, both experimental and psychometric evidence have led to the identification of distinct spatial representations and thought processes.