Issues in Auditory Display. A.C.Eldridge email: alicee@sussex.ac.uk Creative Systems Lab., School of Informatics, University of Sussex, Brighton, BN2 9QH, UK Tel: +44 1273 877645 Fax: +44 671320 January 14, 2005 Abstract Auditory displays have been successfully developed to assist data vi- sualization in many areas, but have as yet received little attention in the field of Artificial Life. This paper presents an overview of existing design approaches to auditory display and highlights some of the im- mediate challenges for the field. Examples from recent experiments are used to illustrate the importance of considering factors such as data characteristics, data-display mappings, perceptual interactions within and between display modalities, and user experience and training in designing new visualization tools. It is concluded that whilst further research is needed to develop generic design principles for auditory dis- play, this should not stand in the way of exploration of bespoke designs for specific applications. Keywords: auditory display, sonification, visualization tools, complex sys- tems, cellular automata, training. 1