Forensic animation is a tool used in criminal and civil investigations, and in court, to recreate scenes and incidents through computer animation. It can provide new insight and a fresh perspective for investigators and jurors, and can focus on known facts or set up visual examples of scenarios.
Forensic animation is a tool used in the investigation of criminal and civil incidents and can also be employed in a court of law to help one side press a case. Forensic animation has been in use in courtrooms since the 1990s, and the use of this technique is becoming increasingly common among researchers and the legal community. Many fans of procedural programs like CSI and Bones are familiar with forensic animation and some of its potential applications.
In forensic animation, a scene or incident is brought to life through computer animation. Animation incorporates known information about the scene and allows investigators to miss the incident, often employing multiple perspectives. For example, after a car accident, using forensic animation to gather evidence can show that a driver cannot see an approaching car due to an obstruction, thus explaining how the accident occurred.
Investigators can use forensic animation to recreate crime scenes and explore different scenarios that might have taken place, as well as incorporate all the evidence to try to explain what happened, how and when. Forensic animations can be valuable tools for criminal investigators, especially when they are working on complex cases, as animation can provide new insight and a fresh perspective that can highlight details or draw an investigator’s attention to an area of interest.
In court, forensic animations can be used to show the jury how an incident occurred. Visual demonstration can help some jurors understand the case better, and in some cases, forensic animations have been credited with making or breaking a case by demonstrating the power of visual information.
Substantial forensic animations focus only on the known facts, with reconstruction informed by the expertise of forensic professionals and programs specifically designed for forensic animation. A computer program might, for example, be able to calculate things like friction based on known conditions, the weight of an object, and so on. Demonstrative forensic animation is designed to set up a visual example of a scenario to show how things could have happened or how they could have happened. In a product liability lawsuit, for example, the attorney might use a forensic animation to show how a product failure may or may not cause injury, depending on which side of the case the attorney is arguing.
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