FARMINGTON — Jesse Potts made sure goggles were on and hot implements were respected Wednesday at the University of Maine at Farmington.

“With a soldering iron, there’s no blister. It’s straight to a third-degree burn,” Potts, an art professor at UMF, told a group of 11 teenagers as he led them through construction of a device that would allow the teens to navigate the corridors of Merrill Hall on the campus with their eyes closed using a laser proximity device attached to a pair of sunglasses.

The device emits noises that increase as objects come closer.

If the wearer comes too close to a wall or other object, the signal triggers a small vibrating alarm like those used in cellphones as a final collision warning.

The project was just one that the “campers” in UMF’s Creative Tech Summer Camp were taking part in.

Chris Bennett, a computer science professor at the school, came up with the idea for combining his own passion with the arts for a weeklong summer camp experience for visitors from 12 to 18 years old, according to Dawn Nye, chairwoman of the Sound, Performance and Visual Inquiry Department.

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“We have a lot of diversity in faculty who teach creative technology at UMF, and he thought a camp of this nature could really be beneficial and interesting to area youth,” Nye said. “Most technology summer camps have to do with robotics or engineering, but none of us had heard of anything that combined technology and art.”

Potts reminded students not to get too close to the object they were soldering.

“Whatever is going into your lungs that’s not good, clean, fresh Maine air is bad,” he said as plumes of burning flux rose from a table.

The camp’s webpage described Potts’ class: “Physical Computing Day will offer a hands-on approach to learning all about interactive electronics. We will focus on coding Arduino microcontrollers to operate sensors, lights and motors. We will learn how to create programmable and responsive electronic devices that are capable of interacting with the physical world.”

Students went to work Wednesday, stripping wires and drilling holes in cheap department store glasses as Potts quickly made his way from table to table. Lasers were zip-tied to the glasses, giving them a cyborg-like appearance.

Potts reminded the teens to place the zip-ties facing out so they wouldn’t poke themselves in the eye when they put them on before stopping the class to show them the “coolest thing you’re going to see all day.”

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Potts told the teens that if they left all their wires loose, they would look like they were making a bomb. He showed them that by putting the ends of two or more wires into a cordless drill, they could quickly spin the wires into a neat bundle.

Before long, teens were working on programming the card on their shoulder that would interpret signals from the laser and strapping them to their arm.

Keegan Austin, of Rangeley, was the first to take his wobbly steps down the hallway, guided only by the mechanical cricket chirps emitted by his headgear.

Guided by his partner, Austin quickly disregarded the warnings emitted by the device and, after walking blindly into a reporter’s notebook, began heeding each chirp and buzz.

Conor Damon, of Farmington, said as he intently bundled his wires, “My favorite thing so far has been today, but I’m really looking forward to doing more with computers.”

Workshops in video, animation, interactive electronics and making mobile apps ensure the camp will provide something for every taste.

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“The idea of combining disciplines is something that UMF really values, and I think we see this camp as an extension of that idea,” Nye said.

Douglas McIntire — 861-9252

dmcintire@mainetoday.com

Twitter: @CD_McIntire


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