If cyber security threats have made one thing abundantly clear, it is how technology is outpacing human investigations by several miles. But if it is up to tech advocates, we will simply replace humans with virtual CSIs, and employ new techniques such as virtual reality to solve the crime. This is an ambitious plan, but is it even feasible in the real world?
Future Crime Will Be Solved By Technology
In many cases, people see technological developments as the cause of increased crime. Particularly where online crime is concerned, the finger of blame is often pointed at new technologies, which allow people from all over the world to connect with one another. But technology may also be our best hope to solve future crimes, according to some experts.
Tracing a crime back to the culprits is the first stage of any serious investigation. Unfortunately, that task has become a lot more difficult, as criminals can mask their identities and locations with free software. This same software is often targeted by law enforcement agencies, and they usually have to rely on malware to obtain the information they require.
Even though technology also has its benefits when it comes to solving a crime, the legal system does not accommodate for major technological interventions. Rules and legislation are slow to give more power to technology-based solutions, which creates a very frustrating environment for those looking to solve a crime. At the same time, there is a fine line to walk between trusting technology to solve a crime, and invading consumer privacy.
But what could technological advances mean for the future of crime solving? 3D Printing could be used to reconstruct evidence material, such as footprints and fingerprints. Advancements made in the footprint scanning technology department allows for far more accurate models than ever before in history.
But the biggest advances will be made with virtual crime scenes. To be more precise, companies are working on a combination of 3D imaging technology and virtual reality headsets. Jurors could “walk” through a crime scene the way CSIs found and examined it. Seeing is believing in such cases, and what better visual representation than a VR environment?
Speaking of CSIs, some people may argue that it would be better to replace them with robots over time. On paper, this may sound like a good idea, but there is one key problem. Robots require sophisticated software, which is designed by humans, the very species they are designed to replace. Humans are not without flaws, and those shortcomings can be “inherited” by future robo-CSIs. That doesn’t mean, however, that the concept is not appealing.
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