Source: Dongguk UniversityA team of scientists from South Korea’s Dongguk University has developed a three-pronged policing system that will reportedly help improve safety and make predictions about future crimes.

The system, dubbed “Googi,” combines virtual reality, big data and robotics to develop a framework for analyzing and predicating criminal activity.

The scientists use virtual reality to reconstruct crime scenes via simulation, and to train and educate law enforcement officers, while robotic devices are employed to respond to crimes, conduct surveillance and collect forensic data. The final component in the three-pronged system is the analysis of big data about crimes, including the locations of crimes committed.

Data from the three prongs of the system was then used to develop an algorithm that makes real-time predictions about where future crimes may be committed. Once developed, that information would then be turned over to law enforcement.

For now, the system is still in development, but the Dongguk University team hopes to make it commercially available by 2022.

The Dongguk team is not alone in its efforts to develop crime prediction technology in an attempt to improve a community’s safety. Louisiana State University (LSU) computer science students formed a software company that relies on data to predict the location and time of future crimes, while the New York Police Department (NYPD) solves crimes using pattern-recognition software Patternizr, which enables NYPD officers to sift through hundreds of thousands of database case files, identifying potential crime patterns across the NYPD’s 77 different precincts.

Likewise, researchers from the University of Surrey and Georgia Tech collaborated on a crime-fighting algorithm designed for the purpose of lending law enforcement experiencing strained resources a hand by expediting data processing to make predictions about the recurrence of crimes.

Yet, despite the growing interest in the so-called field of predictive policing, reports are that some predictive policing systems are being abandoned for their reported inaccuracies. Notably, one of the first agencies to adopt the technology in England has subsequently abandoned it.