SCIENCE

The CAVE Automatic Virtual Environment integrated by Mechdyne Corporation in March 2009, at Rowan University in Camden, NJ, will be featured in and episode of Sci Fi Science--Physics of the Impossible airing on the Discovery Science Channel beginning November 3, 2010, at 9 p.m. (CDT.)

Dr. Michio Kaku serves as host of the program and was on site in New Jersey for filming of the program which is tentatively called "Holodeck."

"The CAVE provides an immersive, interactive and navigable 3D simulation of any environment you desire," explains Dr. Shreekanth Mandayam, professor and chair of Rowan's Electrical and Computer Engineering department. "It is like the 'Holodeck" from Star Trek."

Mike Russell, a Rowan graduate student, goes on to explain the value of a three dimensional experience over just the two dimensional, "It can really help the operators visualize problems from a completely different viewpoint."

The CAVE was installed as part of Rowan University's Samuel H. Jones Innovation Center at the South Jersey Technology Park, in Mullica Hill, New Jersey. Rowan University students have used the CAVE designed and engineered by Mechdyne to conduct research for NASA, the U.S. Navy, the city of Camden and more.

Dr. Mandayam explains how the Mechdyne CAVE helps students create "what if" scenarios for new product design and testing. By constructing virtual scenarios of real life entities like NASA rockets, researchers can find out what went wrong after the fact, give advice to correct design issues, or discover what may have lead to any problems in the original design.

In addition the research for NASA and the U.S. Navy, Mandayam helps his students communicate with other colleges with virtual reality laboratories via holograms. He is also hopeful that the lab can be utilized by elementary and high school students to demonstrate scenarios like the potential effects of global warming happening right around their bodies, all in the "safety" of the virtual setting.

At its completion, the Rowan University CAVE was the only university in New Jersey to have a room-sized CAVE Automatic Virtual Environment (CAVE). The project was funded through the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Navy and NASA.