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Virtual reality is already making big strides in the world of gaming but experts believe the technology could be used elsewhere as well – especially in the courtroom.
Researchers at Staffordshire University are involved in a project to find out whether VR could be used to recreate crime scenes and present evidence in a more visual and integrated way.
The project has received a £140,000 funding injection from the European Commission as part of the EU Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant.
Dr Caroline Sturdy Colls, who is the lead researcher on the project, said: “Traditional means of documenting, sketching and photographing crime scenes can be laborious and they do not provide data outputs suitable for presentation in court to non-experts.
“A number of novel, digital non-invasive methods have the potential to increase search efficiency and accuracy, permit access to difficult and/or dangerous environments, create a more accurate record of buried or concealed evidence and provide more effective means of presenting evidence in court.”
Researchers will be working with Staffordshire Police as well as experts from the university’s Games Design department.
Simon Tweats, who is the head of justice services at Staffordshire Police, believes the project could make crime scenes easier for jurors to understand.
“Doing that [presenting evidence in court] in a way that is far easier for juries to understand and appreciate – which can only be be good for everybody, for prosecution and defence, in understanding precisely what has happened and what has gone on,” Tweats said.
