Dear Diary, I Won't Give Up My CAVE!

Daniel F. Keefe is of Professor of Computer Science and Engineering and Director of the Interactive Visualization Lab at the University of Minnesota. Together with other visual computing faculty and students, Keefe's lab recently moved to a custom designed, newly renovated floor of a research building on campus. That is important for this position paper because the move raised the key question: What will happen to the CAVE? After 25 years of working with various large format semi-immersive multi-wall projection screen displays that are both loved and hated for their highperformance visualization capabilities and challenges-the author reflects on the strategy, finances, emotions, interdisciplinary impacts, and technical considerations that have impacted his decision to keep his CAVE alive despite the rapidly evolving landscape of commercially available and more widely supported alternatives for immersive computing. To emphasize the multi-faceted nature of the decision, including the emotion we humans can experience as users and developers of a technology like this, which is almost unique in its ability to both define a physical architectural space and a wide range of complementary virtual spaces, the position paper takes the creative form of a series of entries in a personal diary.