Michael Schwarz – författare

Important elements of games, movies, and other computer-generated content, shadows are crucial for enhancing realism and providing important visual cues. In recent years, there have been notable improvements in visual quality and speed, making high-quality realistic real-time shadows a reachable goal. Real-Time Shadows is a comprehensive guide to the theory and practice of real-time shadow techniques. It covers a large variety of different effects, including hard, soft, volumetric, and semi-transparent shadows.The book explains the basics as well as many advanced aspects related to the domain of shadow computation. It presents interactive solutions and practical details on shadow computation. The authors compare various algorithms for creating real-time shadows and illustrate how they are used in different situations. They explore the limitations and failure cases, advantages and disadvantages, and suitability of the algorithms in several applications. Source code, videos, tutorials, and more are available on the book’s website www.realtimeshadows.com.

In the aftermath of the American Revolution, the friendship between Virginians Thomas Jefferson and James Madison became one of the most important political collaborations in American history. This study examines the origins and evolution of their partnership, placing it within the context of US–British relations following the Revolution and analyzing how their relationship affected early republican politics.

Important elements of games, movies, and other computer-generated content, shadows are crucial for enhancing realism and providing important visual cues. In recent years, there have been notable improvements in visual quality and speed, making high-quality realistic real-time shadows a reachable goal. Real-Time Shadows is a comprehensive guide to the theory and practice of real-time shadow techniques. It covers a large variety of different effects, including hard, soft, volumetric, and semi-transparent shadows.The book explains the basics as well as many advanced aspects related to the domain of shadow computation. It presents interactive solutions and practical details on shadow computation. The authors compare various algorithms for creating real-time shadows and illustrate how they are used in different situations. They explore the limitations and failure cases, advantages and disadvantages, and suitability of the algorithms in several applications. Source code, videos, tutorials, and more are available on the book’s website www.realtimeshadows.com.

As a versatile and creative thinker, Oswald Wiener (1935—2021) developed from an artist into a researcher out of sheer necessity. At the end of his life he emphasized:　 ”I do not aim at a synthesis of introspection and automata theory but rather at contrasting them. Which relationships identified in introspection can — in a fairly satisfactory way — be understood as realizations of relationships within a formal system, e.g., the formal system of automata theory. Or the other way around: How well does automata theory as a model (i.e., the computer as mental metaphor, 'Physical Symbol Systems,' today's Artificial Intelligence ...) capture essential features of human thought? What does 'in a fairly satisfactory way' mean in this context? What, and how strongly, does the formal system abstract from natural processes?“ 　 In this book, three conversations with Wiener about the development of his theory and four essays introduce and elaborate on this new ap proach to the theory of thought, which has previously received too little attention in academic discourse. A pivotal role is played by Wiener's last major essay “Cybernetics and Ghosts.” “The collected essays in this book orbit around the mind of Oswald Wiener, becoming visible in his poignant text Cybernetics and Ghosts. The subtitle, in the no-man's-land between science and art adds an unnecessary caveat to Oswald Wiener's thoughts, because his thinking operates in a well-developed domain, just one that sadly resides in a parallel universe, one in which computer scientists are philosophers of mind, cybernetics did not die, and psychology did not end after Piaget. Artistic research in Wiener’s (1935–2021) œuvre Oswald Wiener’s approach to cognitive psychology On the link between informatics and self-observation Also available in German Oswald Wieners Theorie des Denkens 978-3-11-065960-3 Wiener's perspective becomes very timely when it comes to the current, dismal discourse about Artificial Intelligence, which is largely taking place between philosophically illiterate engineers and scientifically illiterate humanities scholars. Where the engineers present their discoveries of practically useful algorithms and the scholars their practically useful political opinions, Wiener remains a true intellectual, sifting through the phenomenology of AI systems in an attempt to understand its significance for the unanswered questions of mind, meaning and the construction of reality.” Joscha Bach, Cognitive Scientist / AI Strategist at Liquid AI / Research Fellow at Thistledown Foundation, San Francisco Bay Area

In den Forschungsarbeiten am ISO Institut zur Erforschung sozialer Chancen, Köln, die überwiegend vom Minister für Wissenschaft und Forschung des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen finanziell gefördert werden, wurden Ende der achtziger Jahre erstmals Fragen und Probleme des Umweltschutzes systematisch aufgegriffen. Mit Eigenmitteln des Instituts finanziert und an Erkenntnisse aus vorausgegangenen arbeitspolitischen Forschungsprojekten anknüpfend, wurde das Projekt "HandlungskoDStella­ tionen und -potentiale im betrieblichen Umweltschutz" konzipiert. Die Ergebnisse der fünf in diesem Zusammenhang durchgeführten betrieblichen Intensivfallstudien stehen im Zentrum des vorliegenden Bandes (Kapitel 3 -7). Sie werden als unterschiedliche Typen betrieblicher Umweltschutz­ strategien dargestellt. Auf die Empirie hinführend und um die zentrale Fragestellung der mikropolitisch orientierten Untersuchung betrieblichen Umweltschutzes deutlich zu machen, werden in Kapitel 1 zunächst die forschungskonzeptionellen Ausgangsüberlegungen dargestellt und Defizite der sozialwissenschaftlichen Umweltforschung markiert. Daran anschlie­ ßend werden im 2. Kapitel Anforderungen an die betrieblichen Akteure skizziert, die sich aus (der Notwendigkeit) einer ökologischen Modernisie­ rung der Betriebe ergeben. Darauf aufbauend und gestützt auf vorliegende Untersuchungen zum betrieblichen Umweltmanagement wird ein Überblick über die aktuelle Praxis des betrieblichen Umweltschutzes gegeben. Auf dieser Grundlage wird eine einzelfallübergreifep. de Einordnung und Inter­ pretation der nachfolgenden Fallstudien möglich. Im 8. Kapitel wird der Versuch unternommen, die resümierende und vergleichende Betrachtung der Fallstudien zu einer Konturierung eines Konzepts der Betriebsökologie zuverdichten und arbeitspolitische Schlußfolgerungen, die sich daraus ergeben, zur Diskussion zu stellen. Damit ist nur ein -allerdings zentraler -Teil der Ergebnisse aus dem genannten Forschungsprojekt dokumentiert.

An important consideration for energy-efficient buildings is their primary energy requirements over the entire life cycle. How to determine this? What integrative factors influence the performance of a healthy and sustainable building? This, while it may be important for clients and architects to know, is frequently not very transparent.This book has been written to assist with clarifying target criteria and expanding horizons when it comes to ecological buildings. It is meant as a handbook and source of reference for clients, architects, planners and building operators, to provide them with pertinent information about their design, construction and operation: how to do this in the most energy-efficient and economical manner?Also, there is feedback and documentation about prominent buildings like the Hamburg Dockland or the Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg in Stuttgart. They provide excellent architectural examples for detailed construction and design solutions. Further, there are insightful interviews with architects and clients about many important buildings, which help turn this book into an integrated source of reference for sustainable architecture.- A Guideline for Planning, Construction and Operation of sustainable Buildings- A source of reference for clients, architects, planners and building operators- Innovative architectural examples with sustainable concepts and design

Und: Wie wird der Beitrag der Marke zum Unternehmenserfolg gemessen?Mit ihrem Brand-oriented-Management-Modell liefern die Autoren einen direkt anwendbaren Handlungsrahmen, der den Erfolgsfaktor Marke auch in digitalen und globalisierten Zeiten intelligent und nachhaltig in der Unternehmens-Strategie und dem Management-Alltag verankert.