tion, such as when a thin cloud passes in front of the sun and the illumination becomes more diffuse. Similarly, we We attempt to cast light on illumination by introducing a computational model of light sources and illumination. Spaoften have difficulty guessing the lighting configuration in tially varying illumination is computed using coordinate transa scene, such as in a magazine photograph,...

Avicenna is a renowned peripatetic philosopher whose rationality continuously draws the attention of many scholars. In many of his works, he resorts to the hierarchy of intellects (angels) to explain the process of the emanation of the multiplicity from the One, as well as the emergence of beings. As these intellects are among the ontological causes of the human soul in the arc of descent, they...

We present a new sampling technique for using environment maps for illumination in a Monte Carlo ray tracer, based on directly importance sampling the continuous two-dimensional distribution of illumination as a function of direction. Unlike previous techniques for high-quality rendering with environment maps, our method requires very little precomputation, is easy to implement, and is compatib...

Abstract Mystical experiences are often described as being among the most profound and meaningful events of a person’s life. Their occurrence, while normal but uncommon phenomenon, is reliably occasioned by psychedelic substances under appropriate conditions, although care needed around context usage to help ensure safe beneficial experiences. The occurrence mystical in sessions key mediator su...

In translucent objects, light paths are affected by multiple scattering, which is polluting any observation. Confocal imaging reduces the influence of such global illumination effects by carefully focusing illumination and viewing rays from a large aperture to a specific location within the object volume. The selected light paths still contain some global scattering contributions, though. Desca...

This paper presents, for the first time, a comprehensive scholarly examination of the history and principles of major traditions of esoteric healing. After a brief conceptual overview of esoteric religion and healing, summaries are provided of eight major esoteric traditions, including descriptions of beliefs and practices related to health, healing, and medicine. These include what are termed ...

ART DEFINITION FIGURATIVE ART Almost all art is abstract art, if we take abstraction to be a process of drawing inspiration from the shape, color and texture of objects. Artists have "abstracted" from the world around them since prehistoric times. But it was not until the early twentieth century that abstraction began to be explored as an end in itself. Abstract art tends to rely on the associa...