Students on Law, Policing and Public Service courses at Newcastle College University Centre (NCUC) have been getting to grips with some brand-new software that will help them to put their learning into practice in real-life scenarios.

The headsets and CSI software, developed by UK Virtual Reality (VR) Specialists RiVR, give students the ability to investigate a full photorealistic crime scene environment built exclusively for them by their trainer.

A series of simulation rooms have been created, including a flat, where students can conduct investigations, a police station and interview room, and court room, will be used to build simulated cases that will allow policing and law students to work together on cases from beginning to end.

Policing students will use the technology to conduct mock investigations in the simulated environments using the headsets, create a file against the suspect and interview them in the mock interview room, before Law students take the case to a mock trial in the simulated courtroom.

Not yet in standard use within industry, the headsets are currently being trialed by only a handful of universities and police forces around the world, including NCUC, who plan to embed the technology into the course going forward.

Aaron Dippie, Uniformed Public Services Lecturer at Newcastle College and a former Met Police Officer, explained: “We have been trialing this software and the new headsets, to allow learners to conduct CSI in a variety of different scenarios in as close to real-life settings as possible.

“We want to give our students every opportunity to put their learning into practice. These headsets and simulation rooms are fantastic tools for that, and I look forward to seeing them in use. I'm proud that we’re going to be one of the first education establishments to adopt this technology as part of our courses.”

NCG’s Head of Learning Technology and Digital Learning, Rob Wraith added: “We are always looking for ways to enhance the learning experience across NCG, and I think this innovative, immersive experience does exactly that, as well as putting us at the forefront of adopting VR in education.”

You can see examples of the simulated environments that the students are working with here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fm9Fa5o_pAs