Shake his bionic hand

You have to see it to believe it. John Matheny controls his robotic prosthetic arm with his mind. He’s the first man in the world to truly be part man, part machine.

Matheny lost his left forearm to cancer in 2008, but scientists at Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory replaced it with a prosthetic that moves and operates just like the real thing. A titanium rod fused into Matheny’s bone bridges the gap between man and machine, while an armband detects electrical pulses in Matheny’s muscles, allowing him to control the arm with his thoughts.

Coeur d’Alene citizens can fist bump, high-five and shake hands with Matheny’s robotic prosthetic and experience more incredible technological advancements at the Think Big Festival Aug. 4-5 in downtown Coeur d’Alene and North Idaho College.

“It will be super, great, fantastic, terrific, outrageous, stupendous, tremendous — and you can’t beat that,” Matheny said in a message to The Press.

Think Big is a robotics and artificial intelligence conference where innovators and entrepreneurs share where the world is with technology, where it’s going and how business can play a role in that advancement. Microsoft, Boeing, Johns Hopkins A.L.P. and several other leading institutions will be there to engage in a conversation about the future with the Coeur d’Alene community.

Attendees can shake hands with Matheny, have a conversation with a “chat bot,” ride in self-driving cars, fly drones and experience a virtual reality by just peering through a headset, according to Nick Smoot, founder of Think Big and its driving force — Innovation Collective. This futuristic carnival will take place in downtown Coeur d’Alene, starting with the robotic experience from 3 to 6:30 p.m., and finishing the night with tech parties hosted throughout downtown.

Chris Cochran, COO of Innovation Collective, said this experience stands out from the rest since attendees get to interact with the speakers, rather than being kept at arm's length like most conferences. That way, the big fish get a sweet taste of this incredible, little pond.

“By the end, they all want to live here,” Cochran said.

The festival kicks off at 7 p.m. Aug. 4 with a concert at the Innovation Den, the home of Innovation Collective. The morning of Aug. 5, ticket-holders can attend speaker sessions held at the NIC Schuler Performing Arts Center, where they’ll hear from numerous speakers on the future of technology in health, education and humanities. One session, called “bot buddies,” will dive into the dynamics of robots and humans coexisting in the near future.

Among the speakers are Matheny and the creators of the first mind-controlled prosthetic, as well as Rear Adm. Lorin Selby, the Navy’s chief engineer. Selby will share his thoughts on how peace could be achieved with robots and A.I.

On the entrepreneurial side, Mark Solon, managing partner at Techstars Ventures, will talk investing in tech. He’ll also use his knowledge and experience to find investment-worthy companies right here in Coeur d’Alene.

Prior to the festival, an invite-only think tank known as ‘Summit,’ will take place. Fifty experts from around the world will discuss solutions to this area’s real-world problems using modern technology. Summit will address how robots might aid in keeping Lake Coeur d'Alene clean, and how artificial intelligence could assist in improving regional literacy, among other topics, Smoot said.

Smoot hoped to put Coeur d’Alene on the map for innovation in the field of robotics and artificial intelligence when he started Think Big four years ago.

“So much of it to me is, how can we get as many people to experience where the world is going so that we can go there and beyond, because once you shake someone’s hand that has a mind-controlled prosthetic, it starts to really change how you think about what’s possible,” Smoot said. “My dream is that every little kid and senior citizen, middle-aged person, teenager and college student gets the chance to have those moments so we can have a very robust economy here.”

Tickets get you access to the kickoff concert, speaking sessions, robotics experience and pub crawl on Aug. 4-5 for $125. To be a part of the experience, register at www.thinkbigfestival.com/2017.