MSc Forensic Art - Student Profiles

Sarah Shrimpton

My passion is faces and the MSc in Forensic Art allowed me to study them extensively, combining artistic skill with scientific knowledge so that valuable work could be created to aid in Human Identification. I am currently working on a short-term Labrotation project at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tübingen, south Germany. I am in the Bülthoff department which uses psychophysical testing to assess how we recognize objects and faces.

The project looks at facial recognition and uses a virtual reality environment to fully immerse the participants when viewing faces that they have to memorize. During a learning phase, participants view these faces from either above or below in a virtual reality setting. There is then a testing phase where participants view still shot images of the faces. The idea is to test whether people are better able to recognize faces from the viewpoints that they have experienced in the virtual reality phase than from new orientations not experienced before.  Composite imaging, one of the key components on the MSc course, relies on a witness being able to recognize and recall faces, so the research at the Institute helps us to understand how people see these faces and what the limitations are so that we can adjust our interviewing techniques accordingly.  

“The computer software training on the MSc has better equipped me with the skills I need to undertake this project as the image modifications are all computer generated. Alongside this, the knowledge I gained on facial anatomy and morphology on the course has been invaluable in contributing towards the finished images of the faces for the project.”

After this project and building on the knowledge I gained on the MSc, I want to continue studying faces and continue researching so that we can better understand all aspects surrounding the face and improve our skills and techniques to better aid in Human Identification.

This is the link to the Bülthoff department page

http://www.kyb.mpg.de/bu/projects.html?pg=38