Imagine stepping into the shoes of a detective, exploring crime scenes not from photographs, but through the immersive technology of Virtual Reality. This could soon be a reality for jurors, revolutionizing the way verdicts are reached in courtrooms.
VR headsets could eventually become appropriate court attire
In a paper published this May, researchers from the University of South Australia investigated whether the ability to inspect crime scenes in virtual reality could help jurors make decisions in courtroom trials.
- Measuring the impact of viewing the same crime scene in either VR or a photographic slideshow, they found that VR led participants to a different, more consistent verdict than one based only on photos.
The Future of Virtual Reality
Although it seems like VR technology would greatly assist the legal process, Cunningham believes it will be over a decade before jury duty involves strapping on a headset.
- “I think VR will be used in investigations first by policing agencies and forensics analysts.”
- Introducing it to the courtroom would require a progressive judge.
The Results
The different ways in which the evidence was presented seemed to have a stark impact on how participants understood and interpreted information, and on their subsequent verdicts.
- Of those who viewed the scene in VR, 86.67 percent determined the scene was a case of “death by dangerous driving”
- Meanwhile, just 46.67% of participants who were presented with photographs came to the same conclusion
- It would be useful to conduct further experiments using a larger sample size of participants, as well as allowing them to deliberate together as a real jury would
Virtual Reality
Current laser scanners make the cost of digitizing a crime scene negligible
- It only took around four hours to scan a scene, time that could be reduced with experience
- Policing agencies are already scanning crime scenes as part of investigations, so this could also reduce costs
