  Augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR) are
technologies of great potential due to the engaging and enriching experiences
they are capable of providing. Their use is rapidly increasing in diverse
fields such as medicine, manufacturing or entertainment. However, the
possibilities that AR, VR and MR offer in the area of environmental
applications are not yet widely explored. In this paper we present the outcome
of a survey meant to discover and classify existing AR/VR/MR applications that
can benefit the environment or increase awareness on environmental issues. We
performed an exhaustive search over several online publication access platforms
and past proceedings of major conferences in the fields of AR/VR/MR. Identified
relevant papers were filtered based on novelty, technical soundness, impact and
topic relevance, and classified into different categories. Referring to the
selected papers, we discuss how the applications of each category are
contributing to environmental protection, preservation and sensitization
purposes. We further analyse these approaches as well as possible future
directions in the scope of existing and upcoming AR/VR/MR enabling
technologies.
