Using virtual reality for different purposes has become somewhat of the norm these days. One particular use case no one would readily explore is identifying and convicting Nazi war criminals. Surprisingly, that is exactly what happened in Germany. Prosecutors used a VR recreation of Auschwitz to convict Reinhold Hanning of aiding in the murder of 170,000 people. A very interesting and sensitive turn of events, to say the very least.
Nazi War Criminal Convictions and VR
It sounds a bit odd to use VR technology in a courtroom, but these are certainly rather interesting times. In Germany, the trial of Reinhold Hanning has been a big topic of conversation last year. Most people assumed he was responsible for some of the events which transpired in Auschwitz. Nearly 170,000 people lost their lives during the time Hanning was on site, and the prosecution was able to effectively link him to this crime. Thanks to a new VR documentary of Auschwitz, it may become easier to convict Nazi war criminals in the future.
More specifically, this recreation can be used in any current and future trials revolving around Auschwitz and Nazi war criminals. In this VR version, there is a 3D computer model to help the court understand the viewpoint such war criminals would have seen from standing in one of the many watchtowers. This documentary film is created by MEL Films and may be of great value to the German courts in the future. After all, there are still a few Nazi war criminals who have yet to be convicted of their crimes and atrocities.
It is evident for everyone to see virtual reality has an interesting future ahead. While this new documentary has yet to be used in an official court, it is evident there is a lot of merit to this concept right now. Thanks to the help from Ralf Breker, the virtual Auschwitz was created through laser scanning technology. It is a very interesting and promising industry, although it remains to be seen how things will play in the coming weeks and months. It took the team five workdays to a scan everything and turn it into virtual environments.
We may see more of these ventures in the future. A lot of things went down in history for which people still have to atone. Some of those criminals – Nazi or otherwise – still live to this very day. It is evident things will have to change in this regard, and virtual reality may be the tool we have all been waiting for. Educational tools like these will find their use cases outside of the educational sector.
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