Interactive
courtroom
exhibits.

3D scenes rebuilt at real dimensions in Unreal Engine 5, so a mediator or jury can stand where a witness stood and check what they could see. Delivered as an offline Windows app that runs on your laptop.

See the sightline tool → Start with a brief call
CR-2024-001 · Interactive sightline tool

Could anyone have seen it happen?

A special education student was assaulted by a peer in a sensory room next to his classroom. The school district said a staff member would have seen it if it had happened.

We scanned both rooms with lidar for exact dimensions and photogrammetry for surface and lighting detail, then rebuilt them in Unreal Engine 5 with the real doorways, windows, and furniture.

We chose to build a tool instead of a video. A video shows one vantage point. The tool let anyone at the mediation move the staff member around the room, in a top-down view with a cone of sight or in first person, and look for a spot where both rooms could be adequately supervised. There wasn't one.

The mediator cited the tool as a key factor, and the case settled for $8 million. Trial counsel Vince Bartolotta and John O'Brien of Thorsnes Bartolotta McGuire received the 2026 Outstanding Advocate Award from Consumer Attorneys of San Diego for their work on it.

Read the case → More on line-of-sight exhibits →
When it fits

Built for questions about space.

An interactive exhibit fits when someone in the room will want to test the claim themselves. When the witness gets moved through the space live, in front of the mediator or jury, the point gets proved in the room. These are the cases where we'd suggest one.

01

Sightlines

What could a witness, a driver, or a supervisor actually see from where they stood? Walls, door frames, windows, and parked cars all get built in.

02

Positions and distances

How far apart two people were, how long a walk takes, whether a hazard was in reach. Measured in the model, at real scale.

03

Competing accounts

Put each witness's version in the same room and switch between them, so everyone can see where the accounts agree and where they can't both be true.

04

Sequences in a real place

An incident played on a timeline you can pause, scrub, and view from any angle, including the angle the other side's expert is relying on.

What can go in it

Every tool is scoped to the case. These are the pieces we build in when the case calls for them.

  • Scanned to scale

    Photogrammetry or lidar of the real site, checked against scene measurements.

  • First-person and top-down views

    See through someone's eyes, then pull up to the floor plan with their cone of sight drawn on it.

  • Movable people and objects

    Drag a witness, a cart, or a vehicle to any position the testimony allows.

  • Timeline playback

    Play, pause, and scrub through an incident sequence second by second.

  • Video-to-model overlay

    Surveillance or phone footage lined up with the 3D scene, so the two can be compared frame by frame.

  • Still export

    Save any view as a high-resolution image for boards, briefs, or expert reports.

Delivery

Runs on your laptop.

You get a standalone Windows application. It runs offline, so it doesn't depend on the courtroom Wi-Fi.

Before you use it, Max Hulburt, the studio's founder, walks you through the controls and how to present it at mediation or trial. We can also record a video of the tool in use, for times when running it live isn't practical.

If a headset makes sense for the case, we can build a VR version so whoever is reviewing it can stand in the room.

In court

Built on your expert's opinion.

An interactive exhibit is a demonstrative, the same as an animation. It illustrates the retained expert's opinion, and the expert lays the foundation for it.

If anyone needs to know how the tool was made, Max is available to testify about the build: the scan data, the software, and how each measurement made it into the model.

Admissibility rules vary by court and by judge, and your trial team makes that call.How courts treat demonstrative evidence →

Tools

Unreal Engine 5 · Photogrammetry · Lidar · Blue laser scanning · Maya · MetaHuman

FAQ

Before you call.

Q-01

Should this be an interactive exhibit or an animation?

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It depends on the question. If there's one sequence to show, an animation is usually the better fit. If the dispute is about what someone could see or where they could have been, a tool lets the mediator or jury test it. Some cases get both. We'll talk it through on the first call.

Q-02

What do I need to run it?

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A Windows laptop. No internet connection is needed. We send the build well ahead of your date so you can test it on your own laptop. If anything doesn't run, we'll help fix it before you need it.

Q-03

How long does a build take?

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A few weeks once we have the materials and a clear scope, the same as an animation. When a project runs longer, it's usually because the case schedule moved, not the build. Rush projects under 2 weeks are possible depending on scope, so tell us your mediation or trial date on the first call.

Q-04

What if the site has changed since the incident?

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We scan the site as it is today, then rebuild what's changed from photos, plans, and testimony. How we document the differences depends on the case. Sometimes it's labels inside the exhibit, sometimes a separate log. Where the record doesn't show how something looked, we say so instead of filling the gap.

Q-05

What does it cost?

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Every case is scoped after a first call. Cost depends on the size of the space, which features the tool needs, and the deadline.

Q-06

Do you work for plaintiffs or defense?

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Both, one side per case. We're based in San Diego and work with firms across California.

Contact

Start with
a brief call.

Tell us about the case and what the mediator or jury needs to check for themselves. If we can help, we'll say so directly. If not, we'll refer you to someone who can.

Send an inquiry +1 (619) 736-9921