2026-09-10T09:44:59Z https://drops.dagstuhl.de/oai

oai:drops-oai.dagstuhl.de:27568 2026-09-10T05:38:43Z ddc:004 open_access

Context-Sensitive Spatial Deixis Through the Lens of Mental Models (Short Paper) Mandal, Adwitiya Falomir, Zoe Richter, Kai-Florian Spatial deixis here and there mental models human-robot interaction object selection spatial cognition The use of spatial deixis, such as here and there, depends not only on physical distance, but also on how speakers mentally organize the relevant space. This paper examines how contextual factors may influence and shape the use of spatial deixis in an object-selection task. The analysis is based on verbal data from a previous human-robot interaction study, in which 12 participants referred to objects in a shared cupboard environment. Using Norman’s distinction of socio-cognitive systems, we interpret the observed deixis behavior as evidence for potential spatial mental models underlying participants' spatial deixis use. We find that speakers' deixis use reflects a combination of absolute, relative, mixed, temporal, and response-biased models rather than a single fixed strategy. Our findings support the view that spatial deixis is context-sensitive, shaped by the mental organization of the space and is variable across individuals, with implications for interpreting spatial deixis in human-robot interaction. Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik Adwitiya Mandal and Zoe Falomir and Kai-Florian Richter 2026 Is Part Of LIPIcs, Volume 393, 17th International Conference on Spatial Information Theory (COSIT 2026) InProceedings Text doc-type:ResearchArticle publishedVersion application/pdf doi:10.4230/LIPIcs.COSIT.2026.24 urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-275689 https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.COSIT.2026.24 eng https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode