VIDEO: New technology will change how the Springfield Fire Department completes its investigations.
It’s called Matterport, and it was donated to the fire department a little less than a year ago. The technology allows fire marshals to go back into a scene through 3D renderings and virtual reality.
Matterport consists of a camera that swivels 360 degrees, taking photos to turn into those 3D renderings of a house. These 3D images allow firefighters to look back at the scene at any time throughout their investigation, no matter how long ago it may have been.
Springfield Fire Marshal Mark Phillips says it takes about 30-45 minutes to fully photograph the entire scene. ”With this, we do one scan and it covers the floor to the ceiling. So if we miss something, we can always go back through our rendering of this,” Phillips says.
Phillips says it’s used for the more severe fires.