A photo is worth a 1,000 words, but the joy of having a panoramic or 3D image to further a litigator's argument can be priceless.

The ABA TechShow 2020′s "Laser and Light Show" session held Thursday identified the practical uses of demonstrative images, and their potential technical and evidentiary hurdles.

Examples of demonstrative evidence include 2D images and footage that can be captured with a camera. But law firms are also leveraging advanced images to better make their argument during litigation, said session speaker Michael Ko, a founder of litigation support firm Groundwork Trial Consulting and a Chicago-Kent College of Law professor.

Those advanced images include 3D images and animated and real-life reenactment videos, which can be computer-generated or recorded with drones or 360 cameras.

3D images are best used as a "virtual exemplar" for objects too large to bring into a courtroom or too impractical to have access to, such as internal organs, Ko explained.

Also, lawyers and their litigation support staff can offer 360-degree panoramic images of a scene at angles inaccessible during a site visit while also fading in real-life pictures to show the 3D images aren't skewed. "It introduces everyone to the full scope of what was going on," Ko said.

Likewise, reenacted videos can be worthwhile evidence regarding an incident when the full real-life video isn't available. However, such computer-generated reenactments have unique challenges when lawyers are attempting to introduce them as evidence, unlike traditional images and videos, Ko noted.

Ko said he's encountered judges who said a demonstrative image is "an uncanny valley of an animation" and is "too good" and misleading. This type of image can be "too good" when it animates actions that can't be proven by testimony; an example includes an animator illustrating what bystanders were doing during an incident.

"There's no testimony for it but an animator has to make an animation for it, which I think judges are very concerned about," he noted.

Along with realism concerns, litigators may also face admissibility challenges. But Ko said that hurdle can be cleared if litigators compare their images captured with advanced technology to traditional demonstrative evidence.

"[Compare] it with something simpler so it's more like something a judge is comfortable with."

Those analogies include describing a 3D image as a 2D image that has been rotated and referring to a 3D video as simply two video recordings.