Technology Corner: Virtual Crime Scene Reconstruction: The Basics of 3D Modeling

Abstract

Digital crime scenes take place in the context of physical crime scenes. Virtual crime scene reconstruction is an activity where investigators create a 3-dimensional (3-D) model of an actual crime scene for the purpose of determining the events that lead to the crime. While virtual crime scene reconstruction is currently used for analyzing physical scenes, it can also help investigators visualize and explore ways digital media could have been used to perpetrate a crime. In this technology corner we explore one of the technologies underlying virtual crime scene reconstruction: 3-D modeling.Â