Crime scenes in Virtual Reality : A user centered study

Abstract: A crime scene is a vital part of an investigation. There are however, depending on the situation and crime, issues connected to physically being at the scene; risk of contamination, destruction of evidence or other issues can hinder the criminal investigators to stay, visit or revisit the scene. It is therefore important to visually capture the crime scene and any possible evidence in order to aid the investigation. This thesis aims to, with an initial research question, map out the main visual documentation needs, wishes and challenges that criminal investigators face during an investigation. In addition, with a second research question, it aims to address these in a Virtual Reality (VR) design and, with a third research question, explore however other professions in the investigation process could benefit from it. This was conducted through a literature review, interviews, workshops and iterations with the approach of the Double Diamond Model of Design. The results from the interviews were thematically analyzed and ultimately summarized into five key themes. These, together with various design criteria and principals, acted as design guidelines when creating a high fidelity VR design. The first two research questions were presented through the key themes and the VR design. The results of the third research question indicated that, besides criminal investigators, both prosecutors and criminal scene investigators may benefit from a VR design, although in different ways. A VR design can, in conclusion, address the needs, wishes and challenges of criminal investigators by being developed as a compiled visualization and collaboration tool.