Within vehicle Human Machine Interface design, visual displays are predominant, taking up more and more of the visual channel for each new system added to the car, e.g. navigation systems, blind spot information and forward collision warnings. Sounds however, are mainly used to alert or warn drivers together with visual information. In this study we investigated the design of auditory displays for advisory information, by designing a 3D auditory advisory traffic information system (3DAATIS) which was evaluated in a drive simulator study with 30 participants. Our findings indicate that overall, drivers' performance and situation awareness improved when using this system. But, more importantly, the results also point towards the advantages and limitations of the use of advisory 3D-sounds in cars, e.g. attention capture vs. limited auditory resolution. These findings are discussed and expressed as design implications.

Evolutionary computation has often been presented as a possible model for creativity in computers. In this theoretical paper, preparing for a series of experiments, evolution is discussed in the light of a theoretical model of human artistic process, recently presented by the author. Some crucial differences between human artistic creativity and natural evolution are observed and discussed, also in the light of other creative processes occurring in nature. As a tractable way to overcome these limitations, a new kind of evolutionary implementation of creativity is proposed, based on a simplified version of the previously presented model. Artistic creativity is here modeled as an iterated turn-based process, alternating between a conceptual representation and a material representation of the work-to-be. Evolutionary computation is proposed as a heuristic solution to the principal steps in this process, translating back and forth between the two kinds of representation. Those steps are: implementation, going from concept to material form, and re-conceptualization, forming a new conceptual representation based on the current material form. The advantages and disadvantages of this approach are discussed, and how it could best be implemented.

We propose a generative drama approach that integrates human creativity by using an agent-based system where the characters are developed using interactive evolution. The author can then create a scenario from the agents' interaction which provides a foundation for the desired story, which is given its final artistic form through a mapping to a visual representation. This approach can provide the storytelling authors with efficient tools to inspire them in their creation process.