10 Best PlayStation 4 Virtual Reality Headsets

Bestselling PlayStation 4 Virtual Reality Headsets in 2023

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University Researchers Create Virtual Crime Scenes with IC-CRIME Technology

Researchers at several universities have been working together to create a new virtual reality tour of crime scenes to assist law enforcement officials in solving crimes.

The National Science Foundation, whose purpose is to dole out funds for worthy science projects, has been doing just that for projects dedicated to helping law enforcement officials solve crimes. The lead research institute in the program is North Carolina State University, which LiveScience says, is dedicated to assisting police investigators by building a software/hardware platform that is able to realistically recreate a crime scene. To that end, a product has been created called IC-CRIME that allows police investigators to take a virtual tour of a crime scene, long after it's been cleaned up and put back into general use. SmarterTechnolgy says the new system could help solve crimes even after they have grown cold.

LiveScience explains that the new technology works by taking photographs of the crime scene and converting them to three-dimensional virtual digital representations, similar to what video game players are used to looking at. The difference here is that the scene is displayed with remarkable clarity and detail, along with overlays when desired. With such a system, police are able, for example, to overlay a bullet trajectory or to note the direction and type of blood smattering on walls and floors.

The researchers at NC State say that because minute details of the crime scene can be saved and accessed at a later date, new clues can continue to be found if new information comes to light at a later date. Also, they say, allowing police investigators to visit a crime scene over and over, albeit virtually, allows them to gain a better understanding of what occurred, and hopefully, find better leads to the perpetuators. They explain that despite what people see on such shows as CSI, current technology available to crime fighters still lies in examining photographs and sometimes drawings made of the crime scene, which doesn't allow for scrutiny from different angles. One example would be where a body was found dead in a room with a bullet hole in it, leading the police to believe a murder had taken place. Subsequent questioning of possible witnesses suggests suicide by hanging, which someone tried to cover up by putting a bullet in the body because insurance companies don't pay out in suicide cases. Without new access to the original crime scene, however, it would be impossible for the police to test the ceiling to see if a rope had been affixed. With IC-CRIME, they could do exactly that and in the process find out what actually happened.

The National Science Foundation, LiveScience says, hopes that the new system can be made available free of charge to police organizations all over the country in just the next few years.