Virtual crime scene - Complete

The virtual crime scene is now complete and ready to be used. It has been burnt onto a DVD, to make it easy to run on the user’s computer.The welcome object which was going to be the

Google Earth simulation was of poor quality, so a map, with the crime scene labelled, was added as the welcome object instead.

Virtual Crime Scene continued .....

I have got to the stage where the floor plans, Spheron images (hotspots), still images and evidence descriptors are all in the software. I have put them all together and my crime scene is taking shape. This is how I have done it:

Firstly, all the floor plans (as JPEG's) and still images were imported into My Inbox. By right clicking in My Inbox and clicking Import. A new tab then appears and you have to add files by clicking Add File. To do this, you need to locate all the items which you want to add your crime scene.




These will all appear in My Inbox. You can now rename these items if needed, and move them to the resources folder, by right clicking within My Inbox and clicking Move To Resources Folder. These will now all appear in the Images and Documents folder all within appropriate sub folders.




The Spheron images (hotspots) are imported in the same way as before. However, to create a measuring pair this is done slightly differently. Once the hotspots are in My Inbox, right click on the 'high view of the crime scene' image and click Create Measuring Pair. A tab will appear, where the 'high view of the crime scene' image will be visible, and you then have to click on the 'low view of the crime scene' image.




This will create the measuring pair and, instead of looking like the other hotspots, it will have a yellow ruler left hand side. This can then be moved to the Resources Folder like the other hotspots.

The only other component which needs creating is the evidence descriptions. This is done by clicking on the Create button on the toolbar at the top of the screen, and choosing Note. You then have to write the evidence number, URN, what the evidence is, and some questions for the user to think about when collecting the evidence.




Once this is complete, the evidence descriptors need to be moved from My Inbox in the same way as all the other components.

Now that you have all the elements needed to create the virtual crime scene in the software, they need linking together.

Firstly, the floor plan needs to be opened simply by double clicking on it. The hotspots need to be added to the floor plan - this is done by simply dragging and dropping the hotspot onto the desired place within the floor plan which can be seen below.

Ground floor with hotspots:



First floor with hotspots:



When you click on a hotspot, it opens the Spheron image in a new tab. However, if you right click on the tab above the opened floor plan and click Divide Vertically, the screen will then look like this:




This now has to be aligned so that the Spheron image and the Viewcone (blue section) are pointing in the same direction. This is done by opening the plan and Spheron image together in the same screen, and dividing vertically as above. Then right click on the hotspot and click Align and a toolbar will appear. This then has to be moved until the Spheron and viewcone are aligned.




Once this is complete for all the hotspots, you can now link the other Spheron images into your virtual crime scene. This will then give you the feeling that you are walking through the crime scene. This is done by adding hotspots in the direction where the next Spheron images is. For example; there is a hotspot on the front door, taking the user to the Spheron image which is of the downstairs hallway; and then a hotspot on the stairs, taking you up the stairs to the landing; and one on the door to the master bedroom, which is the main crime scene.




Now the evidence needs to be Pinned. This is where a yellow 'pin' is used to mark the evidence which you want the user to look at. For example, a screwdriver is found on the floor, so you would pin the screwdriver and add a close up images of the screwdriver. To pin the piece of evidence you drag and drop the close up images of the screwdriver to where the screwdriver is on the main images, and using the Pin Mode icon (seen below), click on the close up photo. This is now a Pinned piece of evidence.

Pin mode:



Pinned evidence:



The evidence descriptions can now be added to the close up images to give the user the information, the piece of evidence, and questions for them to think about. This is done by dragging the note into the close up image, and Pinning it in the same way as Pinning a piece of evidence.




Once this has been done for all the evidence, the crime scene should look like this:




This is what the Crime Scene looks like now that all the evidence has been Pinned, the notes added, and hotspots have been linked:




The only other thing which I need to add now is the opening scene, which is going to be an overview of the Crime Scene House. I'm, hopefully, going to use Google Earth for this.

I am a third year student at Staffordshire University, studying Forensic Science. For my independent project I am creating a virtual crime scene which could be used as an aid for teaching Forensic Science in schools. I am using the SceneWorks software to create the virtual crime scene.

To capture the crime scene I have used the Spheron HDR camera. Which captures the scene using a fully spherical (360° x 180°) image.

Image from SpheroCam HDR product brochure.

(http://www.spheron.co.uk/ftp/docs_download/SpheronVR-Intruvision01.pdf)

The crime I have decided to set up for this project is a burglary scene. This is because there is no need for a body to be present in the scene, and it is fairly easy to set up.

First of all, the burglary scene was created in the Staffordshire University Crime Scene House. Pieces of evidence were placed around the master bedroom on the first floor. The items which were used as evidence are: fingermarks, tool marks, paint, screwdriver, suspect powder, cigarette lighter, newspaper, a glass, hairs and fibres.

The fingermarks were dusted with aluminium powder, then all the pieces of evidence were given exhibit numbers and subsequently sketched and photographed to be used as part of the virtual crime scene. Then the Spheron HDR camera was used to capture the scene.

Five spherical images were taken in total. Two were taken of the master bedroom at different heights so that measurements can be taken when using the SceneWorks software. The spherical images can be seen below.

The first spherical image was taken of the outside of the Crime Scene House:

The second image was taken of the downstairs corridor:

The third image was taken of the upstairs landing:

The fourth image was taken of the master bedroom (low):

The fifth image was taken of the master bedroom (high):

These images are now ready to be put into the SceneWorks software, to create the virtual crime scene. However, before the spherical images can be used to create the virtual crime scene, a floor plan of the Crime Scene House needs to be completed for the images to be placed into. Evidence descriptions need to be made, which describes and asks questions which need to be answered by the user. This can be attached to the evidence within the virtual crime scene. Then, using the SceneWorks software, hotspots are added to link the floor plan, spherical images, still images and evidence descriptions together.

I have just recieved the SceneWorks software, so I am at the stage of putting all the different elements into the software and linking them together.