Scottish Institute for Policing Research Impact Award: The Early Careers Researchers Impact Award

Sang-hun Sean Yu achieved recognition by winning the Early Careers Researchers Impact Award from the Scottish Institute for Policing Research. In a collaborative effort involving the Scottish Police Authority, Forensic Services (SPA FS), Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS), Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science (LRCFS), and the Danish Police Special Crimes Unit, the Joint Scottish Fire Investigation Training and Research Facility was established in July 2023. This groundbreaking facility has opened up valuable research opportunities for LRCFS and SPA forensic services, with far-reaching benefits for the broader forensic and policing communities. It has effectively addressed a crucial capability gap, improving fire investigations and potential impacts on the Scottish Criminal Justice system, fire safety practices, and fire engineering. Additionally, the facility has integrated Virtual Reality (VR) research, allowing scene reconstruction and collaboration with international partners such as the Danish Police, thereby expanding the training database.

The practical implementation of recording and reconstructing scenes into Virtual Reality is currently being evaluated for training by SPA Forensic Services and SFRS. This innovative approach originated from the doctoral project "Using Virtual Reality in Crime Scene Investigation," spearheaded by Sang-Hun Sean Yu and supervised by Niamh Nic Daeid at Dundee University in collaboration with LRCFS. This research has led to the development of a protocol for recording indoor crime scenes, enabling virtual reality reconstruction. The culmination of this work is reflected in the publication:

- S. Yu et al. (2023) "Development of a Dundee Ground Truth Imaging protocol for recording indoor crime scenes to facilitate virtual reality reconstruction." Published in Elsevier.

The use of VR within SPA owes its inception to the pioneering efforts of Sang-Hun Sean Yu.