Virtual Reality Technology in Crime Scene Investigations
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Virtual Reality (VR) is used in various different fields, such as education, medicine, and entertainment. For each, it provides individual benefits and exciting new opportunities.
One interesting use case of VR are criminal investigations, where it can be applied to aid investigators in the process of solving a criminal case. Against this backdrop, the objective of this project is to create a VR application showcasing how VR is used in crime scene investigations (CSI).
CSI: VR
CSI: VR is a mobile VR experience in which the user takes part in a guided tour explaining the use of VR in criminal investigations.
CSI: VR mobile app
Process
Research
Foto by kat wilcox at Pexels
VR is already used in solving criminal cases around the world. In addition to photography and video recording, many forensic laboratories worldwide are using laser scanners to document crime scene information in a three-dimensional (3D) space. These 3D coordinates are then combined with photographs into a colored point cloud.1
Visiting the 3D model in VR could be useful in various aspects of crime scene investigations, such as highlighting findings or traces, creating hypotheses, evaluating witness testimonies, briefing officers or illustrating the progression of events in the courtroom.
Sketches
The underlying idea of the mobile app is to send the user through different stations where a friendly police robot educates them about some of the use cases of VR in CSI mentioned above. To fit our topic, the tour takes place in a crime scene.
CSI: VR Storyboard sketch
User Testing and Iterations
First user test
In the first user test, I paid specific attention to the scaling and atmosphere. The realistic scaling of objects is always an important point in VR, as I pointed out in the last post. Foremost, the goal was to inform the user about the topic without distracting them too much or, since it is a crime scene featuring a murder (of a robot victim), make them feel scared.
First iteration
CSI: VR atmosphere
To not distract the user, I kept the atmosphere rather plain. Too plain for the test user, as he described it as “rather boring”. Therefore, I turned up the lighting and, in order to amplify that it is not human blood, chose a bright color for our blood trail.
Second user test
The second user test sought to evaluate the implemented movement system. I opted for a waypoint system, where the user selects a waypoint and is then moved to the respective location. Moving the user on rails would also be fitting for our scenario, as we only move from one station to the next. However, providing the user with some interactions might give some variety to the guided tour.
Second iteration
With the crime scene being spread across the whole apartment, the users did not always spot the waypoints immediately. To make them easier to find, the robot guide was relocated after each station, thus leading the way to the next waypoint which was in close proximity. This was a significant improvement to the previous situation, in which it merely followed the user after they had moved onwards to the next waypoint.
Final user test
In the final user test, I wanted to make sure that all our stations on the tour were reachable and that the information provided was clear and understandable.
Final iteration
Although our two test users behaved quite differently, with one paying close attention to the robot guide and the other one primarily exploring the crime scene, both of them were capable of recapping the topic in short and had an enjoyable experience with the app.
Breakdown of the Final Design
CSI: VR final design
In the final version of the application, players pass five stations, each of which provides them with different pieces of information about how VR is used and can aid in CSI. After a short introduction, the player is confronted with a fictional crime scene. A robot guide scans the room in order to process the crime scene and any possible evidence while explaining to the player how and why this is done by forensic investigators all around the world. Further moving on with the tour, the player and the robot guide find more evidence of what might have happened while continuing with the additional information about the topic. At the end of the tour, the secured evidence is listed, and a brief outlook on other applications of VR in the realm of CSI is presented. After finishing the tour, the player has the option to restart from the beginning.
Conclusion
The objective of CSI: VR was to inform the users about the application of VR in criminal investigations. At the same time, it aimed to provide an enjoyable VR experience. The design decision, i.e., putting the user into the middle of a crime scene, enabled the user to experience the provided information directly for themselves. The two users who tested the iterations of the application had both fun and gained knowledge about the topic.
Next steps
Given the scope of the project, the application could only provide basic information about VR in CSI, so future versions could explore and depict the topic more extensively. Developing the application further, I would, however, focus on making it more interactive. For example, there could be more clues and evidence hidden throughout the apartment which the user has to find on their own..
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