Name: Holographic Criminal Analysis Scanner (H-CAS) Description: The H-CAS is a 3-foot tall metal cylinder with a 6-inch diameter. When activated, the grav module installed in its base activates. It is then guided into position from the controller and side-panels open to reveal its complex sensor array. It then spins, scanning a six-foot radius area around it. Then, using holographic projectors, points of interest are highlighted. If sufficient data is available, a scene may be projected. The software to manage H-CAS is generally done from outside of the intended scan area by ‘the controller’, the device-given name for any user.. The robust software can be used on nearly any device to manage the scans and projections as necessary. An example of an experimental H-CAS being used in a test case, 3231. (Source: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/QrxZW3) Abilities: -Highlights easily-missed and sometimes nigh-imperceptible Points of Interest of a scene, such as old blood stains, uneven distributions of debris due to footprints, and other details common to a crime scene. It is also able to pick up things like scorch marks and bullet holes. With sufficient data, it is possible for it to show the possible directions projectiles could come from. -Points of Interest can be removed from the highlighted environment by the operator -Can be programmed to simulate the scanned environment with varied environmental effects that may not be present, such as rain and snow. By default, H-CAS does not contain exotic environmental effects like lava rain or EMP storms, though these can be programmed in by technicians familiar with the coding environment. -With sufficient information, simulated causes of a scene can be applied by the on-board AI analyzer. (For instance, a body is found suffering from multiple stab wounds. The initial simulation shows a dark figure of an assailant stabbing the victim in the back. Discarded shoes with blood stains on them are found wrapped in a bloody rug in a dumpster just outside of the scan range range. When this data is added to the available data, a new scene is generated- showing the victim stabbed elsewhere and placed here before indicating the assailant as fleeing in the direction of the dumpster.) The simulated scenes can be modified at the discretion of the controller, and are not always accurate. Conditional Abilities (Optional): -Able to scan and store the information from multiple scenes at once and connect the data for a more complete simulation, though H-CAS is only able to highlight one scene at a time. (For instance, the device picks up a bullet hole through a window and impact with a dead body. It shows the direction of a projectile's path. Another scan is taken from a nearby rooftop, showing scuff marks from a bipod scraping across tiles, indicating the point the shooter fired from.) -Able to take basic environmental data scans, and if set to ‘gas mode,’ switches visualization to show distribution of detected chemicals in the scan area. -Additional forensic information can be added, allowing more detail in simulations -Forensic information which is not present can be added, allowing simulation of scenes based on guesses and hunches -With additional modules, can perform chemical tests (such as testing the differences in DNA between two blood samples, though it will not be able to highlight the differences from scans alone) -Another additional module exists to allow detection of EM fields within the range, containing a small amount of magnellium. Limitations: -Can only display simulated environment in six foot radius area around the device -Cannot penetrate ENDI-scan proof materials, and is generally less accurate when scanning areas blocked by physical barriers -Expensive and fragile- falling a foot without the grav module on can critically damage scanners and projectors, which are exceptionally expensive to replace -Can over-represent Points of Interest, such as showing every footprint on a public trail (though this can be reduced by the controller removing those which do not match the profile being looked for) -Unable to distinctly identify DNA, and requires other identifiers to separate samples (such as other larger-scale differences between two blood samples, like alcohol content or species-specific identifiers). -Can fail to identify important evidence due to disregarding it as non-critical (such as the presence of a bottle of alcohol near the top of a full trash can which happens to have DNA evidence matching the handle of a murder weapon found less than a foot away from it.) Conditional Limitations (Optional): - H-CAS assumes periodic boundary conditions. If a scan is taken in a hallway and the end of the hallway is not within the scan area, H-CAS bases simulations on an infinite hallway. In cases like alleys, this can contribute to erroneous simulations. -Uses custom-modified high-accuracy sensors, which are only made by the manufacturer, making repair without hyper-specialized tools or expensive proprietary replacement parts impossible. -Will never correctly predict psionic crimes (but might offer plausible non-psionic suggestions for how it could have occurred) How does it work: H-CAS contains a high-end suite of scanners able to detect and analyze forensic environments both fresh and cold. The internal AI was trained on millions of crime scenes to be able to spot and highlight a wide variety of important crime scene details- which is the cause of its occasionally accurate simulation results. These simulations are assisted by detailed thermodynamic models which allow it to make reasonably good guesses as to where dust has settled, and where it should have settled if it was not disturbed by footsteps- and many other highly powerful predictions. The scene, and points of interest, are targeted and highlighted with another suite filled with high-quality hologram projectors- which allow it to simulate scenes with as much detail as is available, or as is programmed into the controller. Flavor text: H-CAS was developed in the early 3200’s by a commission from the Avian government to assist in solving a growing set of unsolved crimes. By the mid 3200’s, the project was complete, and H-CAS entered sale on the open market. Due to its high cost and fragile nature, it only saw limited use, even in the wealthy parts of Civspace. One planet may have a single H-CAS only used by its federal investigation units on particularly high-profile crimes. On the very wealthiest planets, such as Axoltia, it is seen in extensive use by nearly every investigatory unit. A baseline H-CAS costs 150,000 px, with repair costs weighing in at 10-15,000 px, depending on what is broken. The additional chemical analysis suite is an additional 20,000 px, as does the EM-detection suite, and the H-CAS programming environment is an extra 10,000 px per year- though it is notably extremely easy to use. Pirated software is common because of the cost, but renders a unit unable to update- and an un-updated unit cannot receive maintenance or any official support from the supplying company of Andzon Limited. H-CAS can sometimes be rented for lower prices (30k per year) but any damage that is done to the device is billed higher than normal. Renting services are not offered in the Fringe due to a lack of regular body to enforce payments on damages. H-CAS sees some use by high-grade private investigators who charge the price associated with such equipment. Attainability: Open Tags: Civilian Category: Hologram
