AR+VR in the Criminal Justice System
This photo taken on February 5, 2018 shows a police officer wearing a pair of smartglasses with a facial recognition system at Zhengzhou East Railway Station in Zhengzhou in China's central Henan province.
Chinese police are sporting high-tech sunglasses that can spot suspects in a crowded train station, the newest use of facial recognition that has drawn concerns among human rights groups. / AFP PHOTO / - / China OUT (Photo credit should read -/AFP/Getty Images)
History of technology in law & order
Surprisingly, virtual reality isn’t new to the law. In 1992, jurors in a California courtroom used headsets to watch a VR-like, POV reconstruction of an accident in which a woman had crashed her Honda motorcycle. Dennis Seley, defense attorney for Honda Motor Co., aimed to show that the path the motorcyclist had chosen to take was a dangerous one. His presentation successfully persuaded the jury that his client was not responsible.
Preserving the crime scene
Using hand gestures, on-site officers mapped entire crime scenes without touching anything; that, along with the technology limiting the number of people required on scene, greatly reduced the chance of evidence contamination or tampering.
On duty
For several months now, Chinese police in Zhengzhou have been testing smart glasses with facial recognition technology to identify potential suspects and criminals traveling by plane or train. ... It’s easy to imagine the kind of useful in-FOV data and intelligence AR glasses could show officers on the job, especially when endowed with robust Wi-Fi, advanced sensors, and voice and image recognition tech—alerts about known criminals in the area, GPS directions, 3D maps of buildings, emergency procedure information, real-time language translations, infrared views, etc.
Presenting evidence & providing testimony
In 2015, the German Public Prosecution Service engaged Ralf Breker, a forensic engineer, to create a VR version of the Auschwitz concentration camp. At the time, the German state was trying to convict former SS guard Reinhold Hanning. Hanning, who worked at Auschwitz, claimed he was unaware of what was going on there. Using a laser to capture Auschwitz’s physical geometry, Breker was able to virtually reconstruct the camp to its wartime state and show the judges – wearing HTC Vive headsets – that from his post Hanning could in fact see the rail yard where prisoners were sentenced to either slave labor or death.
Future
Will XR become a standard investigative tool or a staple of the court/legal system in the future? There are a number of hurdles that could hold back immersive technology indefinitely in law and order; including technical issues, high costs (one party may not be able to afford a VR exhibit), judicial opposition (the judge, after all, has final say on what is permissible in the courtroom), public acceptance, and fears around how the technology will affect impressionable jurors.
See the full story here: https://augmentedworldexpo.com/law-order-xr-arvr-in-the-criminal-justice-system/