conceptual ideas

I like the idea of how people interact in the space and what effects them while they move.

getting from point A to B
how to track people while they are doing this? (like QA in video games? How are the popular player paths recorded?)

some factors:
-pathways
-obstacles (rocks, foliage)
-signage ("keep off the grass")
-colours (warm vs cool, light vs shade)

how is the path people choose different when these are changed? Even though it would be the same space.
re-using the same space/map in different ways.
Find some examples of this...

-building plan conceptual overlays to show different approaches.
-layers in photoshop/flash/illustrator/etc
-multiple paths from x to y in multiplayer game maps (usually built around a central object)

model made from cardboard/paper, viewed through clear filters/layers somehow.

Would people take the left or right fork in the road? etc
alternate paths = choice/decisions. Would slow the user even if the two paths were the same, even if just momentarily.

tessellation/geometric style origami
origami using light
landscape piece
window art using lighting

Source

Tracking the movement of people in indoor environments is useful for a variety of applications including elderly care, study of shopper behavior in shopping centers, security etc.

interactive art: "You are here"

"You Are Here tracks and displays the paths of visitors traveling through a large public space. The system displays the aggregate paths of the last two hundred visitors along with blobs representing the people currently being tracked. When viewers approach the work, they can display the live video image with the paths of currently tracked visitors superimposed:"

Cabspotting

Cabspotting traces San Francisco's taxi cabs as they travel throughout the Bay Area. The patterns traced by each cab create a living and always-changing map of city life. This map hints at economic, social, and cultural trends that are otherwise invisible. The Exploratorium has invited artists and researchers to use this information to reveal these "Invisible Dynamics."

Using the data, the map builds up with the routes of the cabs, which can be put into an interactive map or a time lapse.

Source
On tracking shoppers:

To gather the data eventually used in the Wharton research, PathTracker RFID tags were placed on the bottom of every grocery cart in a supermarket in the western U.S. According to Sorensen, these tags emit a signal every five seconds that is received by receptors installed at various locations throughout the store. Once collected, the signals are used to chart the position of the grocery cart and record its route through the entire store. This data is translated into the computerized, Etch-a-Sketch-like drawings of shopping cart paths that Sorensen presented several years ago to Fader.

A study of the "linkage between travel and purchase behavior seems a logical next step," the Wharton researchers note. "Linking specific travel patterns to individual purchase decisions may lead to an improved understanding of consumer motivations for purchasing certain items, and can shed light on the complementarity and substitutability of goods in ways that a more traditional 'market basket' analysis cannot capture. Further exploration of travel behavior, independent of purchase, also seems another promising route for future research.

I also downloaded a podcast featuring a level designer interview, but didn't really help on the level design side.