BT's most successful album, Emotional Technology, was the beginning of a more introspective and mature sound, which carried over to the soundtracks Transeau was producing at the time, including those for the films Stealth and Monster.

With This Binary Universe, Transeau sought to further his compositional skills, seeking out inspiration from indie rock and jazz, using their chord progressions and song structures.

[1] The album makes extensive use of circuit bending, which consists of intentionally mis-wiring and short-circuiting keyboards and children's toys to obtain interesting sequences of sounds that are later processed and time-corrected.

Many of the beats and rhythms in the album were created by computer programs Brian Transeau developed himself to produce the effects he wanted, including Stutter Edit and Break Tweaker.

John Diliberto, his Amazon.com editorial review, wrote favorably of the album, saying, "BT reveals himself as a master of Eno-esque melancholy, as simple melodies evolve through an electro-orchestral instrumental palette."

[11] The included DVD contains the entire album in DTS 5.1 surround sound as an audio-only portion, as well as a short film to accompany each song.

Four of these short films were created by CG graphics artist Scott Pagano, one by Mondi, one by Dose Productions, and the last consists of Transeau's personal footage of his daughter and himself.