Hammond, Ind.
An immersive, 3D virtual reality (VR) learning environment and program, created at PNW to help train crime scene investigators in appropriate evidence collection and handling procedures, has received major media attention through publication in Evidence Technology Magazine.
“Building a Platform for CSI Learning Through Virtual Reality,” authored by program developers and principals A. Karl Larsen, Charles Steele, and CIVS’s John Moreland, was the lead and cover article for the magazine’s Winter 2018 issue.
In the article, the trio provide an overview of typical training formats and opportunities a crime scene investigator (CSI) might experience, the evolving needs and technologies in education and training, and specifically the application of VR technology to crime scene investigator training. Also discussed in some detail is development of the “Crime by the Fives” model, as it is termed in the article—based both on form (Forensic Investigation Virtual Environment Scenarios) and philosophy (Focus, Inspect, Verify, Examine, Show); and the collaborative, multidisciplinary, and multi-university involvement of the principals (Karl Larsen is a Director of Graduate Studies at the University of Illinois – Chicago, Charles Steele is the Forensic Science Coordinator at PNW, and John Moreland is a Senior Research Scientist at CIVS).
Evidence Technology Magazine (ETM), first published in 2003, is also the first U.S. trade publication to focus exclusively on evidence collection, processing, and preservation. ETM is published four times a year and is distributed to crime scene investigators, evidence collection professionals, and forensic scientists. Topics typically covered in ETM include crime-scene safety, spherical imaging, crime scene photography, the CSI effect, fingerprint technology, forensic video analysis, recovering human remains, crime-scene diagramming, AFIS technology, computer forensics, forensic DNA, live-scan technology, and topics related to up-and-coming evidence collection technology and practices. To learn more, and to read this quarter’s publication, visit the Evidence Technology Magazine website: www.evidencemagazine.com.