A Study of 3D Digitisation Modalities for Crime Scene Investigation

George Galanakis,Theodore Evdaimon,Sebastian Allertseder,Xenophon Zabulis,Stefanos Vrochidis,Sven-Eric Fikenscher,Theodora Tsikrika

doi:10.3390/forensicsci1020008

Abstract

A valuable aspect during crime scene investigation is the digital documentation of the scene. Traditional means of documentation include photography and in situ measurements from experts for further analysis. Although 3D reconstruction of pertinent scenes has already been explored as a complementary tool in investigation pipelines, such technology is considered unfamiliar and not yet widely adopted. This is explained by the expensive and specialised digitisation equipment that is available so far. However, the emergence of high-precision but low-cost devices capable of scanning scenes or objects in 3D has been proven as a reliable alternative to their counterparts. This paper summarises and analyses the state-of-the-art technologies in scene documentation using 3D digitisation and assesses the usefulness in typical police-related situations and the forensics domain in general. We present the methodology for acquiring data for 3D reconstruction of various types of scenes. Emphasis is placed on the applicability of each technique in a wide range of situations, ranging in type and size. The application of each reconstruction method is considered in this context and compared with respect to additional constraints, such as time availability and simplicity of operation of the corresponding scanning modality. To further support our findings, we release a multi-modal dataset obtained from a hypothetical indoor crime scene to the public.

Highlights

A crime scene is considered as any location that may be associated with an offence that has been committed and where forensic evidence may be gathered
In the context of our investigation with digitisation tools, we developed an RGB-D scanning modality based on the state-of-the-art RGB-D Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) and reconstruction [54] tailored for this type of sensor
We presented the state of 3D digitisation technologies from the aspect of crime prevention, crime investigation and the education of LEAs

Summary

Introduction

A crime scene is considered as any location that may be associated with an offence that has been committed and where forensic evidence may be gathered. This work presents 3D digitisation approaches related to the aforementioned scenes and considers crime prevention planning and education of LEAs to address possible security threats in both indoor and outdoor. We refer to all of these locations as scenes and investigate the appropriate digitisation tools for each type of use-case. The digitisation, or 3D reconstruction of a scene, can be categorised into three types of use-cases , which are as follows. 1. The prevention and study of a scene prior to and during an event; 2. Analysis and documentation of a scene after an event; 3. THe provision of 3D content in educational simulations that are based on Extended

Objectives

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion