The most peculiar characteristic of a cultural heritage is represented by its uniqueness. To ensure that an object is preserved against environmental deterioration, vandal attacks, and accidents, modern Cultural Heritage documentation involves 3D scanning technologies. In the case of fragmented artefacts, the digitization process represents an essential prerequisite for facilitating an accurate 3D reconstruction. The aim of this research paper is to present a framework that enables an accurate digital reconstruction of fragmented or damaged artefacts using ornament stencils obtained from 3D scan data. The proposed framework has been applied for the richly adorned ornaments of the fragmented Dacian embossed disk from Piatra Roșie. The case study makes use of the 3D dataset acquired, using a structured light scanner to extract vector displacement maps, which are then applied to the 3D computer-aided design (CAD) model. The output of the framework includes a proposed digital reconstruction of the aurochs fragmented Dacian embossed disk, as well as the ornaments’ stencils database. The proposed framework addresses problems that are associated with 3D reconstruction processes, such as self-intersections, non-manifold geometry, 3D model topology, and file format interoperability. Finally, the resulting 3D reconstruction has been integrated within virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR) applications, as well as computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) based on additive manufacturing to facilitate the dissemination of the results.

Cultural institutions are increasingly prioritizing the utilization of diverse mixed reality technologies to enrich the visitor experience during their physical exhibitions. These institutions are actively integrating virtual assets to enhance interactivity and facilitate immersive storytelling experiences. The use of extended reality technologies in cultural heritage dissemination has become a common solution to improve the perception on cultural heritage of their visitors. The objective of the proposed research is to conduct a comparative analysis of three distinct extended reality applications used in cultural heritage experiences. The proposed workflow integrates advanced 3D scanning technology and additive manufacturing techniques to produce tangible replicas which are further enhanced using extended reality technologies, such as augmented reality, desktop virtual reality, and immersive virtual reality. To evaluate the developed extended reality applications, we have conducted various System Usability Scale tools to assess applications’ usability while also trying to identify the most appropriate application that can be integrated within the museum exhibition. From a utility point of view, we found no notable differences in the user perceptions between proposed solutions, whereas from a usability and satisfaction point of view, the most preferred solution was the augmented reality one. The workflow is presented in sufficient detail to ensure the replication of the results.