Virtual reality and anthropology.

Abstract Since the discovery of the Tyrolean Iceman in 1991 advanced imaging and post processing techniques were successfully applied in anthropology. Specific techniques include spiral computed tomography and 3-dimensional reconstructions including stereolithographic and fused deposition modeling of volume data sets. The Iceman's skull was the first to be reproduced using stereolithography, before this method was successfully applied in preoperative planning. With the advent of high-end graphics workstations and biomedical image processing software packages, 3-dimensional reconstructions were established as a routine tool for analyzing volume data sets. These techniques opened totally new insights in the field of physical anthropology. Computed tomography became the ideal research tool to access the internal structures of various precious fossils without damaging or even touching them. Many of the most precious specimens from the species Autralopithecus (1.8–3.5 Myears), Homo heidelbergensis (200–600 kyears) or Homo neanderthalensis (40–100 kyears) were scanned during the last 5 years. Often the fossils are filled with a stone matrix or other materials. During the postprocessing routines highly advanced algorithms were used to remove virtually these incrustations. Thus it was possible to visualize the morphological structures that lie beneath the matrix. Some specimens were partially destroyed, so the missing parts were reconstructed on computer screen in order to get estimations of the brain volume and endocranial morphology, both major fields of interest in physical anthropology. Moreover the computerized form of the data allows new descriptions of morphologic structures by the means of ‘geometric morphometrics'. Some of the results may change aspects and interpretations in human evolution. The introduction of new imaging and post processing techniques created a new field of research: Virtual Anthropology.