ApPEARS: European Advanced Research School

The overall academic goal of ApPEARS was to train Early Stage Researchers into highly-skilled researchers, who will form the next generation of scientists, engineers, designers and entrepreneurs in the field of visual appearance and printing with the desire to forge new networks and collaboration.

By the end of their training, they gained not just a doctorate degree, but also skills that to ensure they are cross-disciplinary and open-minded, enquiring and experimental, well-grounded and ready for the academic and industrial workplace. Their portfolio of technical knowledge included: physics and material/optical sciences, computer graphics, theoretical modelling and performing experiments; it also included skills in presenting ideas, research methods, project management, industrial development, product innovation and marketing. The ESRs worked on individual research projects demonstrating: novel 2.5D and 3D visualization methods, new methods for colour reproduction models, methods for realising complex surface geometries, intuitive 3D printing hardware and software, and new data encoding methods for multi-material printing.

ApPEARS aimed to extend our understanding of the appearance of prints from two to three dimensions by:

· Identifying the attributes that are correlated to the visual appearance of 2.5 and 3D surfaces

· Quantifying their impact on appearance and appearance matching

· Find suitable measurement techniques to assess these attributes

· Explain and model the relationship between physical material properties and psychophysical appearance attributes

· Define a reference appearance space with the most relevant properties to communicate appearance most efficiently

Marine Shao undertook a research study into a high-fidelity physical patient simulator for abdominal surgery developing methods to create realistic 3D printed models that simulate the look and feel of human abdominal anatomy for use in simulated surgical training. The project involved a unique creative combination of engineering and artistic (aesthetic) approaches facilitated through the involvement of experienced interdisciplinary research specialists in the project team. Her outcomes included a demonstration of a working methodology for the creation of realistic abdominal anatomy using 3D scanning, digital modelling and fabrication techniques. And a range of prototype designs and physical models, which can be tested in use within medical simulation scenarios.

Abigail Trujillo Vázquez undertook a research study to gain improved understanding of the behaviour of inks and paints and to develop methodologies for deposition by developing novel methods for structure-based half toning, to better mimic a specific surface structure for realistic appearance printing.