Virtual Comparison Microscopy
Topography ResolutionStudy (VCMTRS)

We are currently preparing the study results for journal publication and will send an email to participants when it appears.

Reading the Results

The first page you'll see after logging in is a summary of the seventeen test sets you evaluated. For each test set you'll see your response (participant answer), the ground truth, the scan resolution, the base set number, and the conclusions breakdown (from ID to Elimination) of qualified examiners from the US and Canada. Remember that there were four scan resolutions in the VCMTR study. The highest resolution was 00(A), slightly lower resolution was 04(B), slightly lower resolution still was 08(C), and the lowest resolution was 12(D).

You can then click the number at the beginning of each row to view the detail for that test set. On the detail page you will see summary information at the top which now includes the caliber and make/model of the firearm(s) in this set. The conclusions breakdown is shown at the right. The "Help Sheet" button displays additional information on the page contents. The next block on the page is the "Your Annotations" section which contains the areas you marked as similar in blue and areas of the surface you marked as dissimilar are in red. The next section is the "Annotation Summary - All Participants" which shows the annotation heatmaps for both test fires (Item 1 and 2), for each resolution (00(A), 04(B), 08(C), and 12(D)). Each image is either a similarity map or a difference map. Cool colors (blue) indicate that a small percentage of participants annotated that area. Warm/Hot colors (yellow, orange, red) indicate that a large percentage of participants annotated that area. Please see the figure titles above each map for information on what's contained in that image. The final block on this page "Conclusions vs Resolution" shows the two items without annotations (for reference) and a bar chart indicating conclusions by resolution.

You can get back to the summary list by clicking the "Summary" link at the top of the page. You can log out using the "Log Out" button at the top right.

Interested in the Overall VCMTRS Results?

Cadre recorded a webinar on the results. A link was sent to all participants along with their results. If you do not have the link information please contact us.

Interested in the Overall VCMERS Results?

The VCMERS results (VCM Error Rate Study) (not the VCMTRS) appear in a Journal of Forensic Sciences paper. Click Here.

Interested in Participating in Another Study?

As part of our 2021 NIJ grant award (NIJ grant 2020-DQ-BX-0028) we are conducing a new VCM study. The Virtual Isolated Pairs Study (VIP).
Click for info on VIP

Questions?

Contact us with any questions via the Contact Us page.