Ms. Natalya Anoshina, Chargé d'affaires of Ukraine, scans military uniform with Artec Leo.
Although we have covered some military applications for precise measurement equipment before, this was largely limited to quality assurance purposes for things like helicopter components. I never personally considered how 3D scanners might play a role in a military context, with the different highly advanced optics with far greater range than any 3D scanners available to militaries.
But, unfortunately, where there’s war, there’s crime. The human traditions of chivalric behaviour and a handshake on the battlefield have all but disappeared, in no small part due to the modernisation of warfare. But there are people with far more relevant degrees and far greater philosophical minds who can argue on this point.
Companies such as Artec 3D and FARO have already proven in the past that 3D scanners can play a vital role in the pursuit of criminal justice. An entire crime scene can be copied exactly as a digital version, which not only helps the investigation, but also helps give the right context to a jury in court. With war crimes being committed in Ukraine, such as the Bucha massacre of Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war, documentation is a necessary challenge if a resolution is ever to be reached.
But in such an unstable environment, which is so unpredictable even in the short term, what can be done other than basic photography to document these atrocities for when the time comes to judge them fairly?
According to the Luxembourg Directorate of Defence, portable 3D scanners will assist with this task. It has delivered a full package of Artec 3D to Ukraine to capture forensic evidence in 3D. In the midst of a war, as well as the necessary cleaning of liberated areas, for instance from landmines, potential evidence of crimes can easily be contaminated, destroyed, or lost. This makes the prompt and accurate capture and documentation of evidence of war crimes in Ukraine before it disappears essential.
The package, which has already arrived in Ukraine, includes 30 handheld, wireless Artec Leo scanners, extra batteries for extended scanning time in the field, high-precision calibration kits, and 5-year Artec Studio software licenses for processing and analysing the 3D data captured. The data can also be securely uploaded and stored on a cloud, where it can be safely shared with, accessed, and processed by investigators anywhere in the world.
Luxembourg’s Minister of Defence, François Bausch, said: “Luxembourg strongly condemns the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and has made a substantial effort in terms of lethal and non-lethal military equipment supplied to Ukraine, worth currently 74 million euros, representing over 16% of the Luxembourg total defence budget for 2022. However, our support is not limited to military equipment. We also support the investigation of Russian war crimes committed, with the aim to bring those that are responsible to justice. Therefore, we provide the Ukraine prosecutor’s office with state-of-the-art Luxembourg technology, 30 Artec Leo 3D scanners, which will greatly help with the collection of evidence of these war crimes committed.”
3D data collected with Artec Leo is automatically projected on the scanner's built-in touchscreen and can be streamed to a laptop.
This state-of-the-art equipment will enable Ukrainian forensic teams to create highly accurate 3D models of objects and scenes – digital twins of all available evidence for sharing with other investigative groups and the International Criminal Court. The potential uses of these 3D models include forensics analyses such as precise damage assessments, bloodstain pattern analysis, bullet trajectory reports, autopsy documentation, virtual reality (VR) presentations to juries in court, 3D-printed evidence, and more.
“Our forensics specialists have been working around the clock, documenting the evidence and establishing the facts of Russian aggression,” said Natalia Nestor, Deputy Director of Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise. “On behalf of the Ukrainian people, together with our teams of experts, I want to personally thank you for the support and assistance provided to us by the Luxembourg people and their government during this difficult period of our history. This much-needed equipment will accelerate our victory, increase the credibility of our cases, and draw us nearer to a victory for all of humanity.”
Artec Leo is, as a handheld, totally wireless device with a built-in screen, is designed to capture data quickly and accurately in any location. Its speed and ease of use, as well as its ability to upload scanned data directly to the cloud, make it a solution particularly suited for forensics, where it is crucial to collect data as fast as possible.
Scanning with Artec Leo is easy to pick up in minutes even if you have no prior experience with 3D scanners.
“Artec 3D scanners are very popular among forensic experts all over the world for fast and accurate evidence collection. We are glad that Ukrainian experts now will also have access to this technology that will save them a lot of time in acquiring, documenting, assessing, and bringing to the court evidence of war crimes being committed on a large scale in their country,” said Art Yukhin, President and CEO of Artec 3D. “We admire the heroic people of Ukraine and are honoured to contribute to and support Ukraine in holding war criminals and terrorists accountable for their crimes.”
Beyond the package for capturing forensic evidence, Artec 3D has been committed to working alongside Ukrainian partners and authorities from the beginning of the war. In partnership with LUkraine, a Luxembourg-based association providing humanitarian crisis relief in Ukraine, Artec 3D donates 1% of every Artec Leo sale to ensure that help in the form of first aid, medicine, shelter, food, and clothing is consistently reaching those who need it most. Additionally, with KODA Ltd, Artec 3D's dedicated Ukrainian partner of 13 years, and Skeiron, a Ukrainian team dedicated to 3D scanning Ukrainian monuments, Artec 3D is currently working to preserve priceless parts of Ukrainian heritage in 3D that are at risk of being lost or damaged.
For more information, read Artec 3D's press release here.