Contact:
Mag. My Hue McGowran
Phone: +43-1-81140-308
E-Mail: mcgowran@newsfox.com
| Pressbox | 
|
Rome (pte022/20.06.2005/12:02) - Italian forensic scientists have discovered the wonders of virtual crime-solving. Without them, modern-day forensics follows a slow, almost impossible path.
Back in their day, detectives like Hercule Poirot and Sherlock Holmes used the process of deduction, traces of what now seems like raw physical evidence and sheer, uncanny knowledge of the human mind to solve their crimes. Today, though, it is almost impossible to do such work without the help of high-tech equipment - certainly not without a computer.
Crime scene investigation teams in Italy now rely heavily upon reconstructing crime scenes in the most exact way possible. High-tech computer programmes are being used to recreate the crime environment in 3D and in colour.
The hard- and software used for such high-quality visual reproductions come from the US company Silicon Graphics http://www.sgi.com.
"This technology helps us to solve crimes by processing the tiniest of details," said Carlo Bui, a crime investigator in Rome.
Italian criminal police have had the use of this digital assistance to the value of about one million euros throughout the last year, said Francesco Camana from the department of Forensic Science at the Italian State Police. "Computer images make it easier to clarify the most complex of circumstances, like the trajectory of a bullet or the distribution of blood," he said
The way the data is displayed is impressive: three projectors beam the virtual crime scene onto a six-by-two-metre large screen. "The 3D graphics are amazingly helpful," said Camana. "It aids us investigators, the prosecutors and the judges to establish and clarify how the crime scene looked at the time of the crime."
Camana added: "Even the witnesses are amazed at how real and detailed the projection is."
The new technology is supposed to assist crime authorities to find out how reliable a witness is. So far it's been very successful. After a Sicilian policeman had been shot from a moving car, for example, criminologists entered such things as the trajectories and angles of where bullets hit the surrounding houses into the computer, and were able to discover where the shots were fired and the direction that the car was travelling.
"There were several witnesses, who all said they saw different things," said Camana. "But only one of them was telling the truth. Our computers helped us to find out who that was."
Word has got around that Italian experts are solving supposedly impossible cases. The high-tech Roman lab is expecting visits from several curious European investigators this week.
(end)
|
|
