Mindfrog.net, Mindfrog.com and mindfrog.org are sites dedicated to informing the public about the work being done by the Mindfrog team at California State University at Hayward's Multimedia Graduate Program.

At its core, the Mindfrog Group is developing telepresence technology through digital means. Telepresence is the ability to experience someone else's environment as if you were that other person. As stated we will achieve this state of telepresence through the unique combination and customization of several technologies: stereoscopic video, binaural audio, the Internet, and unique interactivity.

The basic concept of our work assumes that there are 3 people engaged via a telepresence. 1 person (the recorder) records his experience, the other 2 people (the viewers) indulge in that experience. The 3 people interact via realtime audio as the Internet serves as the medium for their shared visual1, auditory2 and interactive3 experience.

By developing new technologies and customizing existing hardware and software, Mindfrog is well on its way to creating a new existence on the Internet. Digital Telepresence will become a reality of the future and Mindfrog is laying the ground work today.

Please contact us if you're interested in a particular area of the site or if you have any comments or questions.

1 Stereoscopic Video:
By using traditional stereoscopic photography processes and customizing them for realtime, digital, video transmition via the Internet, Mindfrog can emmerse any user in the realistic duplication of a visual experience

2 Binaural Audio:
To add to the realism, Mindfrog adds the sensory benefits of binaural audio which mimics precise locations of sound sources so that the "viewers" experience sounds as if they were the "recorder"... as if the "viewer" was, "really there."

3 Unique Interactivity:
In addition to the binaural audio being sent by the "recorder" to the "viewers". "Viewers" can interact with themselves or the "recorder" through a full duplex realtime audio connection. (Full duplex meaning simply that listening and talking can happen at the same time). By having all three people interact simultaneously and associating that conversation through a shared visual and auditory experience, Mindfrog will tap into several states of self awareness from individual to group, conscious to unconscious, single personality to multiple personality.

   The Internet:
To stay abreast of the exploding bandwidth market, Mindfrog is modeling the internet of the future through the use of current wireless LAN technologies. By using wireless LAN to mimic the "everyday" wireless Internet bandwidth of tomorrow, Mindfrog can develop solutions today that will have future application. The longterm vision is that the Internet will allow a global community of wireless people to exchange their experiences in realtime. Until that vision is a reality, Mindfrog will be limited to a local area of experiences defined by the scope of the wireless LAN.