“Mind Mirror” is a creative electronics new media artwork that uses stereoscopic and stroboscopic audiovisual effects to cause the viewer’s mind to create involuntarily hallucinations. The result is an experiential event, propelling the viewer into a state of visual euphoria. “Mind Mirror” takes the form of a pair of headphones. Both the left and right speakers have malleable wire extensions with two bright lights on the tips. These ‘light wires’ can be adjusted to vary the distance between the lights and the viewer’s eyes. The closer the lights are to the eyes, the more intense the visual effect. If the lights are further away from the eyes, near the side of the head, the viewer has an augmented hallucinatory experience.
The visual illusions caused by “Mind Mirror” are a result of the flashing lights that generate “photic-stimulations of alpha brain waves using flashing lights” (Baldwin 1972) and “binaural beat frequencies at the speakers” (Altman 2007). The sound and light on the left side pulse at a different frequency than the sound and light on the right side. The difference in sound and light frequencies causes the brain to express particular brain wave frequencies. The specific frequency range I am working with is the alpha range, which is expressed by the brain while a person is in a “dreamy, receptive and passive” (Altman 2007) mental state.
