WolfTrace - A Campus Incident Workspace

Landing page
What does Wolf Trace do
Tip upload
Case study map
Evidence network
Evidence relationships
Case narrative
Evidence timeline
Scanning forensics of image
Results of forensics analysis

🕵️ About the Project

## Inspiration

Campus incidents are rarely clear or reliable at the start.
As information spreads across social media, misinformation often grows alongside it. Safety and privacy teams are forced to scrutinize fragmented evidence, blurry videos, partial witness reports and rumor-driven posts, just to understand what is truly happening.

We were inspired by the classic detective corkboard: a wall filled with notes, photos, maps and red strings connecting clues. That visual representation reflects how real investigations unfold — not as isolated data points, but as connected pieces of a larger story. This idea led us to design an investigative workspace tailored for modern campus incidents.

## What WolfTrace Does

WolfTrace is a noir-styled campus incident workspace that transforms tips into cases and evidence into connected trails.

Students can submit tips in multiple formats — text, images or videos. Investigators then organize these reports on a drag-and-drop corkboard Case Wall, where each case becomes a visual entity. Inside a case, an interactive Evidence Board links media, notes and witness information into a connected network. This allows investigators to explore relationships between pieces of evidence and understand the narrative of an incident at a glance. Instead of scrolling through long lists, users interact with a living map of the investigation.

## How We Built It

We built WolfTrace using TypeScript and a React-based frontend architecture. A custom connected graph system powers the force-directed evidence network, enabling smooth interaction between linked nodes. The corkboard interface supports drag-and-drop positioning, zoomable navigation and dynamic visual connections between cases — closely mimicking a real investigative workspace.

## Challenges We Faced

One of the biggest challenges was translating real investigative workflows into a clean and intuitive digital interface. We also had to carefully design realistic data models so the system could convincingly simulate real-world incident investigations.

## What We're Proud Of

We’re proud that WolfTrace feels immersive rather than administrative. The corkboard Case Wall and interactive evidence network create a unique investigative experience that helps users visually connect information rather than simply manage it.

## What We Learned

This project reinforced that visualization plays a critical role in understanding complex situations. Investigations are fundamentally about relationships and context — not just individual data points.

## What's Next for WolfTrace

We aim to evolve WolfTrace into a full incident intelligence platform. Future development will include backend integration, media processing pipelines and real-time collaboration features, ultimately helping campuses respond faster and make better-informed decisions.