A person using the geocentric frame is able to carry large-scale dimensions of space even into small-scale environments (e.g. inside a building or room), and apply them with reference to objects even in places like on a table top. The ability to do so requires constant updating of one's position according to cardinal directions during movements in familiar or unfamiliar places. Thus, holding cardinal directions in mind during movements and judging one's position in relation to them all the time appears to be a required feature of using a geocentric frame of orientation. The process through which people constantly update their spatial position in the environment is called “dead reckoning.” This process differs from that of “tracking” in which people constantly engage in some sort of computation while walking in an unfamiliar space. In this process, each movement is consciously attended, counted and linked to the final position.

Closely related to the process of dead reckoning is path integration. Mittelstaedt and Mittelstaedt (1982) suggest that it is possible to compute a location by integrating directed velocity over time. A navigator may sense it by several means, such as the flow of visual patterns, the feel of the wind, the fading of sounds, or other means. When the information is derived from the internal sensation of movements (i.e. proprioception), the process is called “inertial path integration.” When the information comes from changes in the flow of external events (e.g. textures), the process is called “non-inertial path integration.”