Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1497281
15 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 16 APRIL 2023 "We can use this technology to take the actual scene of the crime inside a courtroom... literally, the jurors, defence, prosecution and the judge or magistrate can 'walk' around the scene of the crime, and see it from all possible angles," Prof. Formosa says. He adds that before the admission of guilt by the Degiorgio brothers in the assassination of journal- ist Daphne Caruana Galizia, the scanned car bomb scene was to be part of the evidence being shown inside the very courtroom trying the Degior- gios. Prof. Formosa says the tech- nology is especially necessary to be able to create compara- tive imagery of the scene of the crime, before it gets disturbed by the various personnel that inspects it. "We are even able to analyse the projectional di- rection of bullets from blood splatter traces." The spatial dynamics of a scene may also be better understood in a 3D virtual experience rather than from photographs or other tra- ditional forensic documenta- tion methods. Scanning is done through a combination of photogram- metry – taking multiple pho- tos and then stitching them together – and LIDAR, which uses lasers to plot thousands of points which are then used to capture a scene in 3D. That data is then processed on high- end computers and converted into 3D scenes before it is pub- lished to AR technologies such as Magic Leap or Virtual Real- ity headsets such as the Oculus Rift or Meta Quest. XR technologies are also set to play a fundamental role in the metaverse, where the next evolution of the Internet will converge real, digital, and vir- tual worlds into new realities, accessed with VR headsets or a pair of AR smart glasses. "Essentially, what requires a screen today could be redun- dant in a couple of decades," says Ph.D researcher Fabrizio Calì. "Today there are contact lenses being developed that can act as screens... you are receiv- ing a call, answering an email... you won't need access to a computer because everything will be popping up before your eyes. The virtual and real will become interchangeable based on whatever you need to be do- ing." Prof. Formosa hopes to take the technology further within the next months – he thinks medical technology can be a net beneficiary of this type of scanning that allows surgeons unprecedented access to the human body, or even allow the surgeon in one part of the world to use XR, with a robot in another part of the world to carry out the surgery. Anoth- er use could be tourism and heritage, where people can see the Azure Window in its past glory, to relive once more the majesty of the structure before its fateful collapse. And then there are disabled users who are unable to access certain ar- eas or structures, but who can, through XR, be able to access these areas virtually. "Its usage could be manifold," Prof. For- mosa says. mvella@mediatoday.com.mt the court