Automated shoeprint matcher PRIDE
HOBBIT has developed a new application that automatically compares shoe tracks without pre-processing. In addition, this solution makes it possible to create a national reference database. A common reference file is valuable because not everyone then needs to create and maintain their own file. A common file is also logically much more complete. The application is supplied with a large database of shoe tracks that have been found in the past in crime sites from all over the Netherlands.
This file can then be searched automatically. There is no need for manual operations to compare shoe tracks with reference prints or other shoeprints. A digital picture of the shoeprint found at a crime scene only needs to be added to the shoe track comparator to search the database. The most resembling references appear at the top of the list of results. Because the search process is automated, it saves the shoe expert a lot of time that was previously spent searching. This new version is currently tested in the Netherlands, Switzerland and Sweden.
