Videogame tech to help real world CSIs

The CSIs on TV may have super ultra high-tech analysis equipment at the beck and call (can’t blame them really since they have to wrap the case up in 60 minutes including commercials), but in the real world, crime scene investigators are turning to videogame technology for help.

The CSIs on TV may have super ultra high-tech analysis equipment at the beck and call (can’t blame them really since they have to wrap the case up in 60 minutes including commercials), but in the real world, crime scene investigators are turning to videogame technology for help.

Of course, they still have all their fancy doodads and that purple light that shows all, but according to Dr. Mitzi Montoya, Zelnak Professor of Marketing and Innovation Management at NC State, all that tech doesn’t improve how investigators can collaborate on an investigation.

To remedy that, NC State is laying out a program they call IC-CRIME (interdisciplinary, cyber-enabled crime reconstruction through innovative methodology and engagement) that uses the newest 3-D laser scanning technologies to recreate crime scenes as accurately as possible.

All of that is going to run on the Unity game engine, which will let investigators create and run scripts to test out their theories in virtual scenarios. An easy-to-use interface would also provide CSIs with external data sources.

“Game technology allows us as developers to create highly interactive and adaptable virtual environments,” Dr. Michael Young, associate professor of computer science and, as Reuters puts it, “an expert in serious gaming” at NC State. “The game world will support multiple concurrent users, allowing several CSIs to interact with each other while exploring the virtual crime scene.”

IC-CRIME is still at least three years away from full operation, but the people behind it are confident that it will lead to a global revolution in crime scene investigation.

Via Reuters