From 3D Surface Documentation to Visualization in Forensic Practice: A Review of Current Methods and Emerging Technologies.

The accurate documentation of bodies, injuries, death scenes, accidents, and crime scenes is fundamental to forensic investigations. Traditional two-dimensional (2D) photography and written reports have inherent limitations in representing complex spatial relationships. Recently, three-dimensional (3D) surface documentation technologies, including laser-scanning, structured light scanning, and photogrammetry, have been integrated into forensic practice to provide accurate, measurable, and reproducible digital evidence. This review provides an overview of current 3D methods and discusses their principles, advantages, and typical applications in documenting crime scenes and human remains. Furthermore, it introduces emerging image-based reconstruction approaches, such as neural radiance fields (NeRF) and 3D Gaussian splatting (3DGS), which generate high-quality reconstructions from multiple images. The integration of 3D data into immersive environments, such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), is also addressed, highlighting its potential in forensic analysis, courtroom presentation, and education. With the rapid evolution of 3D technologies, it is essential to understand the strengths and limitations of each technique in forensic applications. Future developments in algorithms and immersive integration will expand digital forensic capabilities.