About

Three people stand around a sign that says, "Check out Justice by Video," a conference given by Sandra Rivstovska.

The Visual Evidence Lab at the ¾«Æ·SMÔÚÏßӰƬ transforms how legal professionals and policymakers use visual technologies to pursue equal and fair justice. Founded and directed by Sandra Ristovska—an associate professor of media studies at the College of Communication, Media, Design and Information and an affiliate associate professor at Colorado Law—the lab produces scholarship and conducts research that informs policies and practices around the use of video and A.I. in legal decision making.Ìý

Aims

The lab aims to challenge conventional thinking in the legal and judicial system through theoretically sound, evidence-based approaches to video technology, including A.I. and deepfakes. It does so by:

  • AddressingÌýthe lack of consistent, accessible storage of evidentiary videos in the U.S. legal system.
  • Producing systematic research on how video has been used as evidence in court, along with the resulting outcomes.
  • Developing research-based interventions that mitigate biases in the perception and interpretation of video as evidence.
  • Proposing ways video and A.I. could be treated more equitably and responsibly.
  • Training future publicly engaged scholars and practitioners who work at the intersection of media, technology and law.

Approach

Inherently interdisciplinary, multimethodological and multimodal, the lab’s work isÌýinformed by dialogues taking place at the intersection of media, technology and law. It engages academics and broader constituencies in law, journalism, forensics and human rights to advance a vision for visual technology that is rooted in justice, so that civil and human rights are upheld by court systems.

Structure

The Visual Evidence Lab consists of an advisory board, steering committee, fellows, interns, alumni affiliates and affiliate organizations. The advisory board includes scholars, practitioners and retired trial judges who provide guidance on strategic planning and research priorities. The steering committee is made of graduate students who support the research and programmatic activities of the lab. Fellows are undergraduate, graduate and law students who assist with publicly accessible research projects. Undergraduate interns from across the lead the communications, marketing and outreach efforts. Alumni affiliates and affiliate organizations form a collaborative network for a sustainable public engagement on the power, and limitations, of video and A.I..