Stepping into a Virtual Reality Crime Scene

The third discussion in our Throwback Thursday series is led by Professor Niamh Nic Daéid, Professor of Forensic Science, University of Dundee and Director of the Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science, who will reflect on her inspirational talk from the RSE’s Women in Science series – an exhibition highlighting some of the most talented leaders, thinkers and practitioners working in Scotland. Part of Niamh’s research is in the application of virtual reality in crime scenes, allowing expertise to be brought into the crime scene remotely.

We have an expectation that the very best science is being used in the service of justice – but this is not always the case. Some of the evidence currently presented in our courts relies on subjective interpretations of, for example fingerprints, tool mark comparison or the matching bullets to guns. We also don’t know much about how materials move between people or between people and objects. Such knowledge is critical to understanding the weight that scientific findings may have in the investigation of the circumstances of a criminal case. Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science was established in 2016 at the University of Dundee to look at these areas and many more as we bring robust science front and centre into the investigative process.