Pointiest Path

Everyone knows that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. However, when you’re walking along city streets, a straight line may not be possible. How do you decide which way to go?

This strategy, known as vector-based navigation, has also been observed in studies of animals, from insects to primates. The paper suggests that vector-based navigation, which requires less brainpower than actually calculating the shortest route, may have evolved to let the brain devote more power to other tasks.

The analysis showed that instead of choosing shortest routes, pedestrians chose routes that were slightly longer but more directly point towards the destination — the pointiest paths. That is, they choose paths that allow them to more directly face their endpoint as they start the route, even if a path that began by heading more to the left or right might actually end up being shorter.