In our project, we aimed to create historically authentic and vivid virtual representations of historic personalities that are connected to the regional Fichtelgebirge (Bavaria, Germany) to support the storytelling of our immersive XR applications. We are describing the tools in detail, the process of the tool chain and the resulting media. Next, we are discussing the challenges in media production like historical correctness and the consultation of historians. In order to create visual reproducibility we are explaining the detailed text prompts, their limitations and how to cope with resulting errors of the human physiognomy. Finally, we are briefly describing the application of the animated and talking generated historic characters in an immersive interactive WebXR environment. The XR experience is presented in web browsers on smartphones, tablets and XR headsets and the underlying software is based on the open-source framework Aframe. Our paper will describe the process, the results and the limitations in detail. Furthermore, we will provide a flow chart of the tool pipeline with visual examples of these aspects. The animations and voices of the historic characters will be demonstrated in videos of the XR application.

The manufacturing industry, driven by Industry 4.0, is experiencing a paradigm shift with the integration of collaborative robots (cobots). These cobots are essential for safe human-robot collaboration, requiring predictable trajectories in the task space. To address the complexity of interpolating key poses, this research introduces a novel C2-continuous interpolation scheme with unit dual quaternion pose representation. This scheme facilitates smooth, synchronized motion along a given set of key poses. Leveraging the algebraic efficiency and double cover property of unit dual quaternions, the proposed method provides improved computational efficiency and a user-friendly trajectory definition interface, which is particularly beneficial for non-expert users.

Large botnets like Mirai, with 600,000 infected devices, prove that cyber criminals have recognized the potential of attacks against the fast-growing Internet of Things. Moreover, recent critical vulnerabilities like Ripple20 and Amnesia:33 show that taking over a remote system via the network is a real threat. Alarmingly, modern strains of malware rely on exploiting such vulnerabilities to spread, with an increasing tendency. Hence, effective techniques to mitigate the consequences of modern IoT malware are necessary.To that end, we propose TeeFilter, a novel network filtering engine that allows manufacturers and operators of IoT devices to restrict the network traffic of their devices. By selectively executing parts of the network stack in a Trusted Execution Environment, TeeFilter remains untampered even if the operating system is compromised. The operators can specify filtering rules in an LLVM-compatible programming language and compile them into eBPF code. Subsequently, TeeFilter can load and enforce the rules. We formally verify the majority of TeeFilter for correctness and memory safety to eradicate whole classes of vulnerabilities and prototype our system on real hardware to show that the network overhead is negligible. Therefore, we believe that our system is an impactful step to enhance the resiliency of future IoT infrastructure.

Surfing is a complex sport that encounters the interaction between the surfer and the highly unsteady water hydrodynamic of ocean or river waves. With the availability of off-shore river waves or wave pools, it becomes more and more popular being included in the Olympic Games 2021 in Tokyo/Japan. To analyze the biomechanical characteristics of surfers, all forces that act on the surfer have to be measured which has not yet been done before.

Four pressure sensors were integrated water-tightly in a 3D-printed surfboard fin, each two sensors on opposite side. The fin was mounted at the rear end of a surf board on the left side of the centerline within a three-fin-configuration. The sensors were connected to a micro controller with micro SD-card within the board that performed and stored the measurement data with an acquisition rate of 27 Hz. For the measurements, a male surfer performed a set of turning maneuvers on an artificial river wave as shown in figure 2. Thereby, the surfer’s motion was recorded by a camera using frame-rate of 30 fps. The synchronization of the pressure and the video signals was achieved in a post-processing step.

The pressure signals showed a negative pressure difference between the inside sensors and the outside sensors at all surf maneuvers, see figure 3. It generated an outwardly directed force that becomes largest during the turns. The smallest pressure difference was detected on the surf-path from the left to right side of the wave or the other way around.

Taking both lateral fins into account, the pressure forces are contrarily directed apart from the surfboard. This arrangement generates the stabilizing effect of the board’s rear end which helps the surfer to keep the board on the desired track. Especially during the turns, the forces became largest giving the surfer a stable center of rotation at the rear end of the board. This stabilizing effect of surfboard fins was reported and observed in computational models [1,2,3]. The measurement of hydrodynamic forces enables to develop a biomechanical model of a surfer that show the characteristic biomechanic stress level peak and location within the surfer’s body.

Die Einführung des digitalen Bauantragsverfahrens ermöglicht, die Prüfung des Standsicherheitsnachweises vollständig papierlos durchzuführen. Dadurch können sowohl statische Berechnung als auch Konstruktionspläne medienbruchfrei geprüft werden, weshalb eine Beschleunigung des Verfahrens erwartet werden kann. Der Übergang von Papier zu PDF stellt einen deutlichen Fortschritt für die beteiligten Parteien dar, kann aber hinsichtlich des Grads der Digitalisierung nur ein Anfang sein. Der größtmögliche Grad der Digitalisierung wird durch die Verwendung von BIM (BIM: Building Information Modeling) in Verbindung mit den notwendigen Datenumgebungen (CDE) erreicht. Da der Einsatz von BIM bei Planung, Errichtung und Betrieb von Gebäuden erhebliche Vorteile bietet, ist die weitere Verbreitung absehbar bzw. wird von der Bundes- und den Landesregierungen die Anwendung teilweise bereits vorgeschrieben. Auswirkungen auf die Prüfung und Genehmigung von Bauwerken sind daher zu erwarten. In diesem Aufsatz wird untersucht, wie digitalisierte Prüfprozesse gestaltet werden können. Die Prozesse werden vorgestellt und hinsichtlich des Reifegrads der Digitalisierung bewertet.

This paper qualitatively evaluates the negotiation impact factors of companies active in Business-to-Business (B2B) and Business-to-Government (B2G) sales. Scholars consider B2G relationships to be comparable to or integrated in B2B relationships. Few studies examine the attributes of B2G relationships compared to those of B2B. This paper maps and analyses possible differences related to buying and negotiation processes. Consolidating 240 interviews, the authors provide empirical evidence that power and dependence are dynamic and change during negotiation phases. This evidence forms the basis for a structured process depending on the type of industry studied and refers to standardized versus customized products. 

Kaum hat sich der Mensch an Text- und Bildgeneratoren gewöhnt, veröffentlichen OpenAI, Google, Microsoft und Meta ihre multimodalen Modelle, die beide Welten vereinen. Das ermöglicht praktischen KI-Anwendungen und sogar Robotern ein umfassenderes Verständnis der Welt.

Background: Abnormalities in electrocortical parameters and persistence of afterimage after visual stimulation are known to occur in migraine patients. The results of studies on Contingent Negative Variation (CNV) and afterimage persistence in migraine patients suggest a link between these two phenomena and a connection to the pathomechanism of migraine.

Objectives: To date, no studies have investigated both afterimage duration and CNV parameters in the same subjects. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the early component of CNV (iCNV) and the duration of the afterimage in migraine patients.

Methods: Sixty seven migraine patients from the headache center of the University of Rostock Medical Center were examined for iCNV amplitude, iCNV habituation and afterimage duration. The subjects also completed questionnaires developed for this study and the MIDAS (Migraine Disability Assessment) questionnaire.

Results: Associations were found between iCNV amplitude and afterimage duration and between habituation capacity and afterimage duration. A deficit in habituation capacity correlated with a significantly prolonged afterimage duration. Increased iCNV amplitude and prolonged afterimage duration were also significantly correlated.

Conclusion: Conclusions about the pathophysiology of migraine can be drawn from the results of this study. The results support the hypothesis of cortical hyperexcitability as a consequence of a low pre-activation level, which may be a possible contributory cause of migraine. Furthermore, they allow assessment of whether the afterimage examination, which is easier and quicker to perform than the CNV examination, can be used as a diagnostic tool or as a parameter to monitor the course of therapy in people with migraine.

IFAT München 2024

Lead-Management ist eine der großen Herausforderungen im Vertrieb, da die Neukundengewinnung immer bedeutsamer wird. Dieses essential erläutert, wie durch den parallelen Ausbau der drei Basisdimensionen: Prozesse, Menschen und Daten Lead-Exzellenz erreicht werden kann. Hierzu sind zunächst die Rahmenbedingungen zu analysieren und zu bewerten. Anschließend müssen die Prozesse in eine Prozesslandkarte eingebunden, die Kompetenzprofile den neuen Anforderungen angepasst und die Datenbasis vervollständigt werden.
Eine umfangreiche Checkliste zeigt auf, wie Unternehmen bei der Einführung oder Überarbeitung ihres bereits existierenden Lead-Managements sinnvollerweise vorgehen sollten.