‘Crafting Crimes’ Brings Virtual Forensics to Meta Quest

True crime has become a constant cultural presence through podcasts, documentaries, TV shows, and more. People are fascinated with the darkness these stories represent, diving into macabre tales from the past and present. Now, there’s a new immersive experience designed to help people better understand these stories in virtual reality — Crafting Crimes, out today on Meta Quest.

Developer TARGO has been doing immersive nonfiction on Meta Quest for years, tackling subjects like the JFK assassination and the project to rebuild Notre Dame. When they turned their attention to true crime, they found themselves inspired by the work of Frances Glessner Lee, a forensic scientist who revolutionized crime scene investigation through creating miniature dioramas in the early 20th century

Lee, often called “The Mother of Forensics,” would craft meticulous reconstructions of crime scenes at dollhouse scale, painstakingly replicating the furniture and decorations, all the way down to little details like food in the kitchen or an unkempt bed. The victim would be carefully positioned exactly as they were, along with blood spatters, overturned furniture, and everything else investigators needed to understand the scene. From a distance, her miniatures are almost warm and cozy, until you start noticing the grim details.

TARGO uses dioramas like these to walk the player through infamous crimes, starting with the Lizzie Borden murders and continuing through history with the theft of the Monal Lisa and the Wonderland Murders. The player discovers the story of each crime by putting the diorama together and then stepping inside it.

To create Crafting Crimes, TARGO collaborated with Carol Rasaphangthong, a podcast host and miniaturist committed to carrying on Lee’s work. She built all of the dioramas the player sees in the experience and narrates each crime as a visual podcast.

We caught up with Crafting Crimes Producer Victor Agulhon and Director Chloé Rochereuil to talk more about their deep dive into the world of virtual forensics.

Victor Agulhon: Thank you! In our work, we’re always focused on how we can bring something new to immersive storytelling — often by combining a fresh subject with a technological breakthrough that allows us to showcase it in a new way. With historical topics such as the JFK assassination or D-Day, our goal was to breathe new life into archival material and transform the past into a space you can actually experience and visit. Above all, it’s about creating the most relevant versions of series and films that people love across all media.

Chloé Rochereuil: For Crafting Crimes, a true crime series had been on our wishlist for a long time, but we wanted to find a way to explore it in VR without crossing into graphic territory — something we’re very careful about in immersive formats. The lightbulb moment was when had the idea of combining miniature worlds with true crime. This approach allowed us to keep the violence at a distance, while still diving into these stories in VR.

CR: I first discovered Frances Glessner Lee’s work more than 15 years ago while writing an article on forensics. I came across this extraordinary story of a scientist who built intricate dioramas of true crime scenes and who is often referred to as the “mother of forensic science.” Her approach absolutely fascinated me: By recreating these gruesome scenes in miniature, she found a way to control the violence and the darkness.

When we decided to focus on true crime in immersive media, I immediately thought of her. We also connected with people who have carried on her legacy — Carol, who hosts the experience, is one of them. Being able to transform Glessner Lee’s pioneering work into an immersive project has been an honor, and paying tribute to her legacy was very important to me.

VA: Beginning with Lizzie Borden felt like a natural starting point: It was the first true crime story to truly captivate the American psyche and has remained the source of the genre ever since. From there, we wanted a broad diversity in both the visuals and the types of scenes we could reconstruct. That’s why we chose environments as different as a drug house in Los Angeles in the 1980s, the Louvre in 1911, and a Victorian home. Since Crafting Crimes is about building — puzzling together furniture, rooms, and entire physical locations — variety was essential, both in terms of setting and the nature of the crime itself. Finally, we made a deliberate choice to focus only on historical cases, avoiding anything ongoing, to ensure the experience remained thoughtful and respectful.

CR: I hope viewers come away with a deeper understanding of the cases we present. The physical environment — and especially the ability to control it and see it as a miniature overview — is essential to grasp how these crimes unfolded. I also hope the experience feels almost cathartic. By examining these scenes at a distance, the violence becomes less overwhelming, yet still thought-provoking. And beyond that, there’s something nostalgic about working with miniatures — it taps into a childhood feeling of play.

VA: We’ve been very inspired by games and experiences that play with scale and dollhouse aesthetics. There is something innately satisfying about them — and about the unique sense of control that immersion provides. Reconnecting with that sense of wonder, even in the context of dark stories, is something I hope people carry with them after the experience.

CR: We were fortunate to collaborate with Carol Rasaphangthong, who is carrying on Frances Glessner Lee’s legacy by creating her own miniatures. Carol is a gifted miniaturist, and she actually built all of the locations and furniture that appear in the series. We scanned and photographed every detail to create digital twins of Carol’s physical miniatures.

The real challenge was capturing the essence of the miniature aesthetic — the slightly odd proportions, the handmade textures, and that sense of craft and imperfection that makes them so compelling. We also played with scale inside the experience, allowing viewers to switch between a miniature perspective and a full, life-sized view. That shift makes the exploration feel truly unique and, I think, brings something magical to VR.

VA: It was very important for us to be among the first to translate this hugely popular genre into the immersive space — but just as important was doing so with ethics and respect at the core. From the beginning, we made a conscious choice to focus only on historical cases, so that no living people would be directly implicated in the stories.

CA: Presenting the crime scenes in miniature also creates a crucial sense of distance, which felt essential in an immersive environment. We were very deliberate in how we depicted people as well: Using blurry shadows instead of detailed bodies ensures that the viewer’s imagination does most of the work, while keeping the experience respectful. Finally, having Carol as our host provides a human guide through the stories. Her carefully chosen words frame the narrative in a thoughtful way, which helps maintain empathy and respect throughout the experience.