@article{Abegg:7700,
      recid = {7700},
      author = {Abegg, Claudine and Balbo, Ilaria and Dominguez, Alexandre  and Grabherr, Silke and Campana, Lorenzo and Moghaddam,  Negahnaz},
      title = {Virtual anthropology : a preliminary test of macroscopic  observation versus 3D surface scans and computed tomography  (CT) scans},
      journal = {Forensic sciences research},
      address = {2021-01},
      number = {ARTICLE},
      pages = {9 p.},
      abstract = {Virtual anthropology (VA) is based on applying  anthropological methods currently used to analyse bones to  3D models of human remains. While great advances have been  made in this endeavour in the past decade, several  interrogations concerning how reliable these models are and  what their proper use should be remain unanswered. In this  research, a fundamental assumption of VA has been  investigated: if the way we perceive and apply an  anthropological method is truly similar when looking at  bones macroscopically and through various 3D media. In  order to answer, 10 skulls of known age and sex were  scanned using a computed tomography (CT) scanner and a 3D  surface scanner. Two observers separately applied a defined  staging method to eight suture sites on these skulls, first  looking at the bone macroscopically, then at the 3D surface  scan, and finally on the CT scan. Two rounds of observation  were carried out by each observer. Intra- and  inter-observer error were evaluated, and two sample t-tests  used to evaluate if the different types of medium used  yielded significantly different observations. The results  show a high degree of inter-observer error, and that data  obtained from 3D surface scans differ from macroscopic  observation (confidence level 95%, P ≤ 0.05). CT scans, in  these settings, yielded results comparable to those  obtained through macroscopic observations. These results  offer many possibilities for future research, including  indications on the kind of anthropological methods and  anatomical landmarks that might be reliably transferable to  the virtual environment. All current methods used in  traditional anthropology should be tested, and if they  prove unreliable, new techniques to analyse bones from  virtual models should be developed.},
      url = {http://arodes.hes-so.ch/record/7700},
      doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/20961790.2020.1817270},
}