Caught Virtually Lying-Crime Scenes in Virtual Reality Help to Expose Suspects' Concealed Recognition

We explore how virtual reality could be used in police investigations to take a suspect back in time and demonstrate that they recognize a crime scene despite claiming not to. In this study, participants committed a mock crime before being incentivized to conceal recognition of crime related details (e.g., the stolen item or crime scene). The crime scenes and objects were laser scanned, converted to photo-realistic models, and presented to suspects either in virtual reality (VR) or as 2D images on a computer screen. While concealing recognition of crime information, participants' heart rate and skin conductance were measured using a Concealed Information Test (CIT) to assess recognition. Detection of concealed recognition increased by over 25% when participants viewed crime items in VR compared to 2D images. Our findings suggest that revisiting crime scenes or objects in VR may enhance stimulus recognition and salience resulting in increased CIT diagnosticity. General Audience Summary We explore how virtual reality could be used in police investigations to take a suspect back in time and demonstrate that they recognize a crime scene despite claiming not to. In this study, participants committed a mock crime before being incentivized to conceal recognition of crime related details (e.g., the stolen item or crime scene). The crime scenes and objects were laser scanned, converted to photo-realistic models, and presented to suspects either in virtual reality (VR) or as 2D images on a computer screen. While concealing recognition of crime information, participants' heart rate and skin conductance were measured using a Concealed Information Test (CIT) to assess recognition. Detection of concealed recognition increased by over 25% when participants viewed crime items in VR compared to 2D images. Our findings suggest that revisiting crime scenes or objects in VR may enhance stimulus recognition and salience resulting in increased CIT diagnosticity.