UMaine Seniors Develop Apps & Programs to help folks cope and adapt to life in the time of Covid

While there are those who would look at everything that's happened this year with a sense of hopelessness and confusion. Others, like a group of students in the University of Maine's "New Media Program" have been inspired to create things to help folks cope and adapt to a world where Covid-19 is now part of our every day lives.

Seven University of Maine Seniors have created a variety of digital programs ranging from "augmented reality apps for self-guided campus tours and gardening, a therapeutic video game for players with obsessive-compulsive disorder, a popup oasis with audio and visual recordings to provide soothing ambiance, an app to improve professor and student interactivity" to name a few. Their professors say that they are not only proud of these students for creating these programs to offer solutions for people affected by the pandemic, but also for coping their own Covid related stresses during this semester.

In a recent write up at Umaine.edu, the University's Director of the School of Computing and Information Science, Penny Rheingans said "These projects are compelling examples of the potential for new media to make a clear positive impact on our society".  While UMaine's Professor of New Media, Jon Ippolito said “These accolades are a testament to the creativity of our majors, and more broadly to the inventiveness shown by young people armed with digital tools when confronting a global crisis.”

The students were awarded 7 University research awards for their work. You can read all about it here.