MYSTIC, CT – June 4, 2004 – Nearly 20 years after legendary marine explorer Dr. Robert Ballard discovered the sunken remains of the R.M.S. Titanic, he will return on an educational and scientific expedition with Mystic Aquarium & Institute for Exploration (MAIFE) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to investigate the factors accelerating its deterioration. With MPEG-4 video technology from VBrick Systems, Inc., the world will be able to witness the extraordinary expedition live over the Internet and Internet2 at www.ExploreTheSea.com, 24 hours a day from May 30 through June 9, and via Internet 2 four times a day to MAIFE Immersion Project sites across the country, including the Mystic campus, June 4 – June 9 in an exciting new live expedition program entitled TitanicLIVE!.

“My return to the Titanic will demonstrate that anyone in the world can now visit - even the most remote locations - via modern technology,” said Dr. Ballard, President of the Institute for Exploration at Mystic Aquarium and an Explorer-in-Residence at National Geographic. “With VBrick’s revolutionary video solutions, scientists, educators and students around the world can understand the history that the Titanic has to offer without actually being on the ship. The technology and their expertise in consulting have enabled a long term vision of mine to be brought to life, and the scientific missions we are involved with to be delivered to children across the nation.”

VBrick Systems has provided the Mystic Aquarium & Institute for Exploration with several portable, reliable networked video appliances and critical expertise that will allow a worldwide audience to watch as Dr. Ballard and teams from NOAA, Mystic Aquarium & Institute for Exploration and other institutions diagram the ship and conduct analysis of its deterioration.

As the unmanned undersea Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) Hercules navigates the wreck of the Titanic, it will send real-time video via a satellite uplink operated by EDS and delivered to the Mystic Aquarium & Institute for Exploration and its Immersion Project sites all over the country, the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography, National Geographic headquarters and other locations. A VBrick appliance residing at Mystic Aquarium & Institute for Exploration then simultaneously encodes the video into DVD-quality MPEG-2 video and the lower bandwidth MPEG-4 video suitable for the Internet.

The MPEG-2 video is sent via IP multicast over the Internet2, an advanced high-speed digital network that interconnects more than 200 universities and other organizations. Educational institutions equipped with Internet2 access and VBrick’s free StreamPlayer soft