The Unity Engine has found its mot unique client yet – with North Carolina State University using the tech to help unlock mysteries in real crime scenes.
The idea is that engine will be used be used to simulate the surroundings of a crime scene, meaning that investigators will have an achievable and explorable ‘record’ of it.
High-end 3D laser scanning tech will be used to record the exact dimensions of the location of a crime, and, when displayed on the Unity Engine, can be sent out to any number of detectives from around the world to look at the scene.
The whole project isn’t cheap, with the university receiving $1.4 million to build the set-up. Its potential for solving the causes and matters of a crime, however, is huge.
"The game world will be embedded within a Web page also containing data in the form of text and 2D graphics," NC State’s Dr. Michael Young told Reuters.
"We’ll be building an easy-to-use interface on top of the game environment that will allow CSIs and other investigators to link locations in the crime scene to external sources of data, such as hair and fiber databases, finger print images and investigator notes."