The contact goniometer is a commonly used tool in lithic and zooarchaeological analysis, despite suffering from a number of shortcomings due to the physical interaction between the measuring implement, the object being measured, and the individual taking the measurements. However, lacking a simple and efficient alternative, researchers in a variety of fields continue to use the contact goniometer to this day. In this paper, we present a new goniometric method that we call the virtual goniometer, which takes angle measurements virtually on a 3D model of an object. The virtual goniometer allows for rapid data collection, and for the measurement of many angles that cannot be physically accessed by a manual goniometer. We compare the intra-observer variability of the manual and virtual goniometers, and find that the virtual goniometer is far more consistent and reliable. Furthermore, the virtual goniometer allows for precise replication of angle measurements, even among multiple users, which is important for reproducibility of goniometric-based research. The virtual goniometer is available as a plug-in in the open source mesh processing packages Meshlab and Blender, making it easily accessible to researchers exploring the potential for goniometry to improve archaeological methods and address anthropological questions.

中文翻译：

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虚拟测角仪：一种测量碎骨和石块 3D 模型角度的新方法

接触式测角仪是石器和动物考古分析中常用的工具，尽管由于测量工具、被测量对象和进行测量的个人之间的物理相互作用而存在许多缺点。然而，由于缺乏简单有效的替代方案，各个领域的研究人员至今仍在使用接触式测角仪。在本文中，我们提出了一种新的测角方法，我们称之为虚拟测角仪，它在对象的 3D 模型上虚拟地进行角度测量。虚拟测角仪允许快速收集数据，并测量手动测角仪无法物理访问的许多角度。我们比较了手动和虚拟测角仪的观察者内可变性，并发现虚拟测角仪更加一致和可靠。此外，虚拟测角仪允许精确复制角度测量，即使在多个用户之间也是如此，这对于基于测角的研究的可重复性很重要。虚拟测角仪可作为开源网格处理软件包 Meshlab 和 Blender 中的插件使用，使研究人员可以轻松使用它，探索测角学在改进考古方法和解决人类学问题方面的潜力。