EU Project LAW-TRAIN-Press Release
This is the first press release of LAW-TRAIN. A downloadable version can be found in the press section.
ICT Research Initiative aims to develop an investigation training system
The European Commission is funding the project Mixed-reality environment for training teams in joint investigative intelligent interview training simulator (LAW-TRAIN), which is led by Bar-Ilan University, Department of Computer Science.
Interviews of suspects in international crime are very difficult. To be successful in such investigations, sophisticated skills, familiarity with different cultures, laws and methods and cross-border teamwork are necessary. Delineating a methodology and training law enforcement agents on how to conduct such investigations is the key to fighting these crimes.
Training for such scenarios by role-playing simulations is highly complex, since it requires one or more experienced actors to play the roles of the suspects, witnesses or victims. This requirement limits the number of possible training sessions and scenarios and requires careful scheduling.
Virtual training for effective crime protection
The EU project LAW-TRAIN, which started with a kick-off meeting in June in Ramat Gan (Israel), aims to develop a mixed-reality serious gaming platform, which will provide training opportunities for teams of international investigators anytime and anywhere. Within the platform, a Virtual Suspect that generates verbal and physical response can be interviewed. The system will provide tools to easily generate new characters and scenarios. A Virtual Trainer will follow the training and comment online on the team members’ performance.
Augmented reality glasses will be used to create enhanced realism of the interview situation. Each of the trainees will have access to the information system of its own country and will be able to share this information with the other trainees to simulate real investigations.
Sarit Kraus, Professor of Computer Science at Bar-Ilan University and coordinator of the project, highlights the benefits of the expected results: “The LAW-TRAIN project will allow law enforcement personnel from different countries located in different sites to conduct a collaborative investigative interviews of one or more suspects. All the investigators will see each other and work as a team. With the generated database we have a powerful tool to fight international organized crime.”
Multidisciplinary Research
The LAW-TRAIN consortium is composed of experienced experts and end users in the fields of technology, computer science, law and criminology, serious gaming and user experience, from different parts of Europe. It provides the expertise and experience needed to overcome the challenges of international investigations to fight organized crime.
As project coordinator the Bar-Ilan University brings in its long experience of teaching in a multi-cultural environment and will participate in the content development. The Katholieke Universiteit Leuven will research on and develop the investigation methodology. The Portugal based Instituto de Engenharia de Sistemas e Computadores, Investigação E D will be responsible for the development of the pedagogical agents and the neuro-linguistic programming. Compedia and Optimización orientada a la sostenibilidad S.L. are companies with vast experience in the development of training platforms and serious games. The Austrian consultancy firm USECON will ensure that LAW-TRAIN objectives stay aligned with user needs and that user-based requirements are specified in enough detail to be usable in the implementation phase. In addition, Guardia Civil, Ministry of Public Security, Israel National Police, The Belgian Federal Prosecutor and Policia Judiciária will utilize their experience in investigation and crime fighting to develop the system.