  Visualization and virtual environments (VEs) have been two interconnected
parallel strands in visual computing for decades. Some VEs have been purposely
developed for visualization applications, while many visualization applications
are exemplary showcases in general-purpose VEs. Because of the development and
operation costs of VEs, the majority of visualization applications in practice
are yet to benefit from the capacity of VEs. In this paper, we examine this
perplexity from an information-theoretic perspective. Our objectives are to
conduct cost-benefit analysis on typical VE systems (including augmented and
mixed reality, theatre-based systems, and large powerwalls), to explain why
some visualization applications benefit more from VEs than others, and to
sketch out pathways for the future development of visualization applications in
VEs. We support our theoretical propositions and analysis using theories and
discoveries in the literature of cognitive sciences and the practical evidence
reported in the literatures of visualization and VEs.
