The FLORIDA project developed legally compliant tools for law enforcement agencies to accelerate the analysis of mass video data and make investigative work more effective. In close collaboration with users, new methods were developed, such as geospatial crime scene reconstruction, interactive exploration of extracted information (Visual Analytics), prioritization of video data, generic object search and audio analysis. Combining these methods significantly reduces the volume of data to be manually analyzed, allowing investigators to focus more on relevant events and make informed decisions.

The work at the University of Konstanz focused on interactive visual analytics methods and the spatiotemporal reconstruction of complex scenes. Image and video materials are organized within a shared spatial context, enabling investigators to examine relevant events step by step, trace connections, and critically evaluate analysis results.

Research Questions

• How can very large volumes of existing video data be efficiently structured and made accessible?
• Which visual analytics methods help analysts quickly identify relevant events?
• How can automated methods (e.g., object recognition) be effectively combined with human interpretation?
• How can the spatiotemporal reconstruction of complex scenarios be supported interactively?

Selected Results

A research demonstrator enables the interactive reconstruction of a crime scene in a three-dimensional environment. Automatically detected objects from multiple image and video sources can be spatially positioned and examined together. Integrated annotation functions support investigators in reconstructing the sequence of events before and after the offence in a transparent manner and in identifying potential gaps or inconsistencies in the available data.