Firefighters and forensic experts train using new virtual reality technology - STV News

Firefighters and forensic investigators successful Scotland are utilizing a caller cutting-edge virtual world instrumentality arsenic portion of their training.

Researchers astatine the University of Dundee’s Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science (LRCFS) and Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design (DJCAD) person collaborated with Danish Police occurrence investigators to make a virtual occurrence country situation utilizing integer images taken successful the aftermath of existent fires.

Current grooming for constabulary and occurrence work investigators often requires controlled burning of simulated occurrence scenes acceptable up successful shipping containers oregon successful abandoned properties.

Investigators past be the tract and find wherever the occurrence started and what caused it.

While efficient, these trial fires are costly, unsustainable and environmentally unfriendly.

David Dourley of the Scottish Fire & Rescue Service told STV News: “The outgo of recreating a realistic occurrence successful the existent satellite takes clip to acceptable up, there’s a fiscal facet and it impacts connected the situation truthful each of those things tin beryllium mostly addresses by virtual reality.

“It offers our occurrence investigators the accidental to signifier and support their skills.

“It’ll payment america successful the existent satellite erstwhile we’re doing existent occurrence investigations astatine a occurrence country and they’ll person that enhanced grooming and they’ll beryllium capable to recognize wherefore a occurrence started and however it developed arsenic it did.”

Forensic scientists from Scottish Police Authority are progressive successful investigating suspected suspicious fires and uncovering evidence.

Currently, cases that travel to tribunal mostly trust connected photographs but this virtual exertion could alteration that.

Karen Robertson of Scottish Police Authority forensic services said: “It’s precise hard to orientate yourself successful a country with photographs.

“It’s precise hard for clarity astir wherever an entity is oregon wherever an point is.”

Ms Robertson said she tin spot the benefits of virtual exertion successful the courtroom.

She added: “It volition assistance the tribunal to recognize the layout of a room, wherefore a idiosyncratic has targeted a definite country to instrumentality a illustration and however they’ve interpreted each the burnt patterns, for example.”

The Danish constabulary are already utilizing the exertion for grooming and present person plans to instrumentality it to the adjacent level.

Eva Ljungkvist, from the Danish Police Special Crime Unit said: “We are doing procreation two.

“We are talking astir peculiar lights, UV lights that fluoresce liquids similar petrol and diesel truthful we tin person the country earlier and aft the fire.

“We tin person peculiar lights that airy up sperm and humor and ignitable liquids and we tin each bid that virtually.”

The exertion has been developed by Dundee University’s Leverhulme Centre for forensic science.

They person drawn connected the talents of colleagues successful the creation schoolhouse to marque definite it looks real.

But could it beryllium utilized for existent beingness transgression country investigations?

Professor Niamh Nic Daeid, Director of the Leverhulme Centre said, “We deliberation that it tin but it’s a process of evolution.

“We besides privation to beryllium perfectly definite that erstwhile we present these benignant of techniques into transgression investigations that there’s a robustness, a solidness down the mode successful which we are utilizing them.

“[This is] truthful that our courts etcetera person assurance that the decisions being made utilizing these tools are ones that are robustly made.”