researchers want to use virtual reality to assess the credibility of witnesses

While an innocent man has just been released in the United States after 48 years of imprisonment, virtual reality is putting itself at the service of justice. A study currently being carried out at the University of Jena, Germany, seeks to test the memory abilities of witnesses.

Not everyone has the same ability to remember faces or certain events. Yet it is this uncertain memory that is used to obtain key testimony in a case.

The incredible story of a man who has just been exonerated in the United States further proves this. He spent 48 years in prison, even though he was innocent. Most of his conviction was based on a single testimony: that of a teenager who claimed to have recognized him during an identification session. We are now looking for ways to gauge these testimonies using technology. In particular by evaluating the ability of witnesses to memorize faces.

Reproduce real conditions

Concretely, it looks a bit like a video game. We start by showing the person scenes from everyday life. These are 3D films in a virtual reality headset, for total immersion. In the middle of these scenes, minor crimes are inserted. For example, a pickpocket in the middle of a crowd, someone running away or someone carrying a weapon.

Once the viewing is finished, several exercises are offered. For example, describing a specific scene or a particular attacker, then trying to recognize him in a series of photos. And it is by analyzing these results that we can get a more precise idea of ​​the credibility of the witness. This technique is currently being developed by researchers at the University of Jena in Germany.

A tool to be handled with care

It is not yet used in hearings or investigations. For now, it’s just research. Research, which must also be refined, because testimony can be impacted by stress, especially when you are a victim. Certainly, virtual reality is very immersive, but it can also be confusing and distracting. So it is a tool that must be handled with care.

In any case, this work is closely followed by associations which fight against judicial errors. One of them, Innocence Project in the United States, gives figures: there was incorrect testimony in 64% of the cases where they managed to free people wrongly convicted. That’s almost two out of three cases. It was time to start looking into this.