EMPIRICAL EVALUATION OF SPATIAL DYNAMICS OF SAND RESIDUE ON VARIOUS SHOE SOLE MATERIALS USING HARRIS CORNER STRENGTH FOR FORENSIC FOOTWEAR EXAMINATION
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46754/jmsi.2026.06.008Keywords:
Forensic science, footwear impression, image processing, Harris cornerAbstract
Forensic footwear examinations often consider various types of geo-forensic materials that adhere to and or are retained by the soles of shoes. These particulates could potentially provide valuable insights regarding the movements of victims or suspects. Therefore, understanding the spatial dynamics of materials and the factors affecting the transfer, persistence, and recovery is essential for enhancing the reliability of geo-forensic investigations. This study aims to explore the factors affecting the spatial dynamics of residues on the shoe soles, and to determine the relative importance of different regions of the sole at retaining geo-forensic materials. Three volunteer test subjects of varying Body Mass Index (BMI) ratings were recruited for this study. Each of them walked through a sandy substrate using three types of worn footwear with soles made of rubber, Crosslite, and ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) foam. Then, the distribution of the sand particles beneath the soles was subsequently documented using digital photography. The captured images underwent preprocessing procedures including grayscale conversion, resizing, and normalisation. Each treated image was then segmented into 10 equal-sized non-overlapping regions, for detailed analysis using the Harris Corner detector. The total of the Harris corner response values within each region was used as a quantitative representation of residue retention, where higher corner strength values indicated greater accumulation of sand particles total. The findings revealed. that EVA foam had the highest retainability, followed by Crosslite and rubber. Meanwhile, the influence of the BMI statuses on the retainability was pronounced only on the rubber-soled shoes. Furthermore, the areas of the sole covering the metatarsal was found to be the most likely retain sandy particles. Overall, the effect of BMI statuses on the retainability of sandy particles was dependent on the material composition of the shoe sole, while the metatarsal region plays a dominant role in residue persistence. The results of this study add to the expanding pool of knowledge in forensic footwear analysis and lay the groundwork for the creation of increasingly complex analytical frameworks in accordance with the dynamic nature of residue transfer and retention in real-world investigations.
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