Wearable Technology for Crime Scene Examination: distributed cognition and naturalistic decision making

Motivation – To explore the domain of crime scene examination as a form of distributed cognition and naturalistic decision making and to inform design of novel technologies. The ‘digitisation’ of Crime Scene Examination is an ongoing activity throughout the world. This process involves the use of portable computers to record scene details and prepare reports, the use of digital photography to capture images of the scene, the use of image analysis for the recognition of fingerprint and footwear marks, the use of ‘labon- a-chip’. Each development implies changes to working practice and higher expectations of how evidence is captured and processed. Research approach – A review of several studies within the framework developed in this paper. Findings/Design – The results suggest colour of the design as a possible underlying factor for the significant correlations found between personality traits and design preferences. Research limitations/Implications – Crime Scene Examination is distributed in three senses: in terms of attention between the activities of searching, recovering and reporting; in terms of the interaction between examiner and environment; in terms of the personnel involved in the evidence chain. Originality/Value – The research contributes to the understanding of crime scene examination and to distributed cognition by focusing on the ways in which evidence is identified and considered. Take away message – Wearable computers can enhance crime scene examination by integrating the tasks of searching, retrieving and recording of evidence in a manner that is not possible with laptop computers. In order to develop such technology, the role and activity of the Crime Scene Examiner must be considered as a form of distributed cognition