ApPEARS — Appearance Printing - European Advanced Research School

Results in brief

Appearance Printing - European Advanced Research School

Humans are highly skilled in assessing the appearance of objects. By comparing the relative qualities of materials, such as whether they are flexible or rigid, soft or hard, smooth or rough, rotten or fresh, we can quickly tell if these are pleasing or may do us harm. Understanding the appearance of materials is also of great importance for commercial products. Better understanding leads to better choice of material, which can be a key differentiator between the success or failure of a product. 2.5D or and 3D printing make it possible to reconstruct the texture and appearance of a wide range of surfaces. However, a fundamentally neglected part of the workflow is the ability to match the desired appearance of materials (in terms of colour, texture, glossiness, softness, translucency) in real life. The overall academic objective of the ApPEARS project has been to train a new generation of Early Stage Researchers (ESR) towards a common goal – to ensure the accurate reproduction of the desired visual appearance attributes of materials/ objects using 2.5D and 3D printing techniques. The ApPEARS ESRs have extended 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 - Finding suitable measurement techniques to assess these attributes - Explaining and modelling the relationship between physical material properties and psychophysical appearance attributes - Defining a reference appearance space with the most relevant properties to communicate appearance most efficiently

Data: CORDIS, © European Union

Project objective

The international manufacturing industry is undergoing radical changes in the way items are digitally printed and fabricated.From the home to aerospace, the speed of change has had impacts on traditional methods of printing, and which has led toincomplete understanding of the design and reproduction workflow, for example accurate measurement of the optical andmaterial properties, gloss, modelling and controlling printing systems beyond colour.To provide a strategic response to the needs of the industry, the group Appearance Printing – European AdvancedResearch School (ApPEARS), is a robust European network that builds upon the extensive experience across the partners,and is at the forefront for leading an innovative training programme. It will facilitate the successful completion of high qualityPhDs by a significant body of ESR students through collaborative supervisory and research training practices whichencompass innovative cross-disciplinary methodologies.It will co-create student research projects with cross sector partners and develop career potential through a structuredprogramme of training events and placement opportunities across Europe. It will produce models of good practice for trainingand cross-disciplinary research that can be applied in the arts, science and technology fields.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

NORGES TEKNISK-NATURVITENSKAPELIGE UNIVERSITET NTNU · TrondheimCoordinatorNorway
3D LifePrints UK Ltd. · LiverpoolUnited Kingdom
BARBIERI ELECTRONIC OHG DES BARBIERI SIEGFRIED & C · BrixenItaly
CONSERVATOIRE NATIONAL DES ARTS ET METIERS · ParisFrance
DANMARKS TEKNISKE UNIVERSITET · Kongens LyngbyDenmark
FOGRA FORSCHUNGSINSTITUT FUR MEDIENTECHNOLOGIEN EV · AschheimGermany
FRAUNHOFER GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FORDERUNG DER ANGEWANDTEN FORSCHUNG EV · MunchenGermany
LINKOPINGS UNIVERSITET · LinkopingSweden
MERCK KOMMANDITGESELLSCHAFT AUF AKTIEN · DarmstadtGermany
OCE PRINT LOGIC TECHNOLOGIES SA · CreteilFrance
PHYSIKALISCH-TECHNISCHE BUNDESANSTALT · BraunschweigGermany
STRATASYS LTD · RehovotIsrael
TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITAT DARMSTADT · DarmstadtGermany
UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS · LeedsUnited Kingdom
UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST OF ENGLAND, BRISTOL · BRISTOLUnited Kingdom

ApPEARS · Appearance Printing - European Advanced Research School

Results in brief

Appearance Printing - European Advanced Research School

Project objective

Participants

Links