By Eduardo Neeter, Founder and CEO of FactualVR and co-chair of the VR/AR Association’s Criminal Justice Committee. First published by the VR/AR Association, February 13, 2019.
Crime and accident scenes are spatial: where things were, how far apart, what could be seen from where. Yet the people who need to understand a scene—prosecutors, defenders, judges and juries—were rarely there. Many agencies already capture scenes with 3D laser scanners, only to flatten that data into diagrams, photos and videos.
Virtual reality closes that gap. It gives a strong sense of presence: the user feels at the scene, and several people in different places can share the same scene at once.
The article looks at four benefits:
- Revisit the scene as often as needed, from any point of view, close to how it was.
- Collaborate in one shared virtual scene, across specialties and locations, with shared annotations.
- Learn the facts faster, so prosecutors can communicate them more clearly, with less back and forth.
- Compliance: follow, check and report on the investigative steps taken in the virtual scene.