Journal of Cultural Heritage 13 (2012) 221–225 Available online at www.sciencedirect.com Case study Process for the 3D virtual reconstruction of a microcultural heritage artifact obtained by synchrotron radiation CT technology using open source and free software Xi Zhang a,∗,b , Jorik Blaas c , Charl Botha c,d , Peter Reischig c , Alberto Bravin e , Joris Dik c a Hunan University, Changsha, China b Tsinghua University, Beijing, China c Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands d Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands e European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), Grenoble, France a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 20 December 2010 Accepted 31 August 2011 Available online 14 October 2011 Keywords: Cultural heritage Artifacts CT Segmentation Front-end Back-end Surface rendering Volume rendering Gelato Manta a b s t r a c t Computer tomography (CT) technology has greatly contributed to the feasibility and convenience of detecting and visualizing the internal material constitution and geometrical fabrication of museum arti- facts. This paper presents a case study of 3D virtual reconstruction for the CT-acquisition-based study of a cultural heritage artifact. It documents the complete procedure, including the preprocessing, segmenta- tion and visualization of the data by providing coarse interactive exploration and integrated high-quality renderings. A parallel aim achieved was to use open source tools and free software for segmentation and visualization, thus providing full transparency of the adopted methodology and 3D visualization methods, and a cost effective solution for ordinary CPU-based PC users. Furthermore, the challenges of the large data volumes involved have been addressed using preprocessing, a segmentation scheme and linked front-to-back management to keep interaction and high-quality rendering available, thus achieving corresponding demands. © 2011 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction New opportunities and challenges for the development of PC- based Virtual Reconstruction (VR) application in the field of Cultural Heritage (CH) have been the direct effect of advances in the field of surveying and visualization technology. So far, laser scanning tends to be the main survey technique for 3D virtual recon- struction of cultural heritage in the museum field [1]. Several major projects in three-dimensional digitalization work such as the Digital Michelangelo Project [2], the digital preservation of Aleijadinho’s sculpture of the prophet Joel [3], and the digital delin- eation of Romanesque churches within the “Merindad de Aguilar de Campoo” medieval area (north of Spain) [4], all adopted laser scan- ning as the acquisition technique for digitalization of the cultural heritage artifacts and sites. However, high level of detail and accu- racy, especially containing interior construction of an object, can be obtained by synchrotron radiation CT technology, but not laser ∗ Corresponding author. E-mail address: xi zhang@hnu.edu.cn (X. Zhang). scanning. A few works published so far have demonstrated how cultural heritage can benefit greatly from CT technology applied to artifact or archaeological site analysis [5,6], documentation [7], preservation and restoration [8,9]. Three-dimensional rendering techniques have been used for the representation of CT data in the cultural heritage world as well as for assisting constituent analysis and for studying fabrication techniques [10,11]. Open source tools have become an important part of developer and user toolsets for the implementation of such studies, providing full transparency of the adopted methodology [12]. Topics such as the “true-to-lifeness” of virtual reconstructions and the efficient representation of virtual objects are still important issues in the field of VR applied to cultural heritage, as is the choice of appropriate digitization strategy [13]. Based on these observations, it is probable that PC-based applica- tions using CT technology will become more usable and widespread in the field of cultural heritage and specifically in artifact studies. The case study documented in this paper is a continuation of the Prayer Nut Project [14] by the Delft University of Technology and the Rijksmuseum, which has as one of its main goals to determine the exact composition and fabrication of the prayer nut, a cultural her- itage artifact held by the Rijksmuseum, and hence to reveal aspects 1296-2074/$ – see front matter © 2011 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.culher.2011.08.004