Digital Crime Scene Documentation
Introduction
With the tools of modern panoramic photography, even complex crime scenes can be quickly and easily “frozen” and preserved in their original state. Should the need arise during further investigations or criminal proceedings to revisit the crime scene, this is possible at any time in the “virtual crime scene”.
The photorealistic preservation of a crime scene in virtual space offers the following advantages:
- Individuals who were not at the crime scene can be given a virtual tour of the scene immediately after the investigation begins. This avoids “false leads” caused by too many visitors.
- A virtual crime scene can be expanded on into a meaningful digital case file by adding further digital assets.
- If further questions arise after a crime scene has been released regarding details that have not yet been considered, these can be answered in virtual reality under certain circumstances.
- A photorealistic crime scene tour provides excellent visual material for judges, prosecutors, and other parties involved in the proceedings.
The possible applications for virtual tours are diverse and not only limited to crime scene work:
- Presentations at staff meetings
- Case discussions and analyses
- Emergency planning (e.g., for large-scale events)
- Cross-departmental resource planning
- Visual documentation and management of events and event locations
- Continuous Education and training
3 Simple Steps to create a Digital Crime Scene
Modern automation technologies simplifying the photographic process of a scene of crime to the “push of a button”. Even challenging environmental conditions can be captured with brilliant colours and in high resolution without any prior photographic knowledge.
Once you have captured a scene of crime in high resolution individual images are “stitched” together
with a novel, user-friendly image processor software. The software runs fully automated and creates optimally illuminated panoramic images in high resolution.
In step 3 spherical images are combined with additional digital assets to generate a comprehensive visual copy of a crime scene. The VR crime scene may be extended to a virtual case file which can be entered even after months or years to answer case relevant questions. Case related digital assets and information like photos, testimonies, expert witnesses, documents, videos or audios are integrated by simple “drag and drop”.
Our High Resolution Panorama Systems
The piXplorer 500 MIII Forensics is a fully automatic panorama robot with a specially tuned HDR camera lens system and integrated lighting. With the piXplorer 500 MIII Forensics, you get a complete and optimally illuminated spherical image of a crime scene with a peak resolution of 512 MPx at the touch of a button.
Dark areas are optimally illuminated by the integrated ring lighting with an almost natural color spectrum. At the same time, the integrated HDR function (7 exposure levels are automatically recorded) ensures ideal exposure for your shots, even in bright image segments.
To ensure correct dimensions in the spheres, each piXplorer 500 Forensics is calibrated geometrically and optically. The calibration process assures error-free panorama generation even under difficult environmental conditions.
The removable camera unit transforms your piXplorer 500 MIII Forensik into an SFM camera in just a few simple steps. The ability to take additional high-quality photos provides the basis for three-dimensional photogrammetric reconstruction of crime scenes or accident sites.
The piXplorer 500 Mark III Forensics is available in two versions: as a pure documentation system with a lightweight panorama tripod and as a documentation and measurement system in combination with a measuring tripod.
Our High Speed Panorama Systems
The piXplorer 100 Forensics generates spherical images in record time. A 128 MPx HDR panoramic image can be captured in just 45 seconds! With such rapid capture speeds, it is now for the first time possible to create virtual crime scene tours in which you can move seamlessly from location to location.
Like the piXplorer 500, the piXplorer 100 is precisely calibrated geometrically and optically to ensure that your
spherical images reproduce the correct dimensions of the captured area. The preset HDR recording process (7 exposure levels are recorded automatically) ensures a dynamic range of 26 f-stops and optimal illumination of your images.
The piXplorer 100 Forensics is also available in two system variants: in combination with our measuring tripod for photogrammetric surveying of crime scenes or with a lightweight panorama tripod as a documentation system.
Our Documentation and Photogrammetry Software
R2S Mosaic is an interactive software package developed specifically for forensic purposes, enabling quick and easy documentation of complex crime scenes and incident locations. The software combines plans, photos, spherical images, 3D models, point clouds, and other important digital evidence to create a virtual copy of a crime scene. The image-oriented structuring of the available information supports efficient crime analysis during staff meetings or presentations of the course of events in court or to other parties.
R2S Mosaic software has been used successfully by security agencies around the world in their daily work for more than 15 years. We would be happy to provide you with references upon request. Continuous optimization in collaboration with security agencies in various countries has resulted in a unique product that stands out in particular for its user-friendliness and high security standards.
