Mixed Reality Cubicles and Cave Automatic Virtual Environment

In Cave Automatic Virtual Environments (CAVEs), a computer generated environment is projected all around a user to fully immerse or eliminate all reference to the real world. Typically, Virtual Reality (VR) CAVEs also track and respond to the user's physical orientation, movements and gestures. Mixed reality environments instead focus on combining real world objects with computer generated ones. In this paper, we focus on the application of Augmented Reality (AR) as a mixed reality technology via (or to) mobile devices such as head-mounted devices, smart-phones and tablets. We present the development of mixed reality applications for mobile (smart-phone and tablet) devices leading up to the implementation of an mixed reality (AR) cubicle for immersive Three Dimensional (3D) visualizations. We also present the results of a study on the familiarity with both VR and AR technologies among students from two institutions of tertiary education. The paper concludes with a discussion of planned deployment and upgrade of mixed reality cubicles using mobile VR equipment.