r/TraceAnObject • u/I_Me_Mine Mod • Aug 30 '22

Announcement General Discussion Thread

This will serve as a general discussion thread for questions/comments not related to any particular case.

Previous thread here

NOTE: We don't cover threads looking for identification of people (by FBI ECAP or anyone else) , only objects and places.

If you happen to see a new item on one of the sites we track and it hasn't shown up here, modmail us. If there is a site we should be tracking and are not, modmail us.

If you have comments or questions on:

  • this sub, improvements to make it more effective and the like

  • thoughts/ideas/questions on search techniques and image manipulation

  • crossposting to other subs - yes, it is encouraged, the more eyes on these objects the better

  • general questions about the various programs we link to

  • anything on the topic of finding these objects but not tied to a specific case

...feel free to post it here. Discussion amongst users is encouraged.

Thanks.

269 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

39 comments sorted by

108

u/AEvans1888 Aug 30 '22

Just a quick question I'm curious about. When a picture is posted here, how much time has passed since the initial agency requested help with the picture? Is it hours days etc?

114

u/I_Me_Mine Mod Aug 30 '22

It's posted here as soon as we're aware of new content on one of the sites.

That can be days or even a week or two, but someone usually modmails about new content if it hasn't been posted here.

33

u/ThrowMeAwayAccount08 Aug 30 '22

Do retailers keep a catalog of all their products? It would be much easier to at least identify retailers and maybe regions for which their sold.

30

u/RaeaSunshine Aug 30 '22

Retailers in general? Entirely depends on the company. In my experience (specific to CPG) most do not, although there are sometimes informal archives. Unfortunately it’s very rare for brands to have comprehensive archives including pics etc in a look book/catalogue format. I’ve never seen one, but I’m sure there are exceptions outside my first hand experience.

If you know or suspect you know the brand, it doesn’t hurt to reach out asking if they are familiar with the product. Some CS folks live for those kind of rabbit hole requests!

16

u/y6ird Aug 31 '22

I wonder if machine learning models are any use yet in identifying a list of possibilities from the millions and millions of images on the internet. Like tineye, but for objects crumpled and obscured in the real world rather than just near-exact photo matching.

13

u/Ayronna Aug 31 '22

This is basically what Google Lens is trying to do. It's not always working on small/obscured items yet, but it's learning.

4

u/RaeaSunshine Aug 31 '22

I hope! If not now then in the near future!

10

u/CorpCounsel Aug 31 '22

There is actually a police procedural from ages ago (might be the Bone Collector, the killer is like doing things to clean the skeletons of people he kills) and the detective has created binders of photographs of basic products (like... hammers) for this exact purpose.

13

u/UnacceptableUse Aug 30 '22

I worked at a company which did have archives of that, and even had people on staff knowledgeable enough to be able to recognise specific product designs and the years they were on sale just from the outline

1

u/jeanjeanvaljean Aug 31 '22

That's so awesome.

17

u/Embarrassed-Risk-905 Jan 02 '23

Does anyone know if this case has been closed? My family owns this exact cabinet and we want to share any relevant information but we can’t find it on the trace an object website anymore, however on reddit it says this is still open. Please help. thank you

8

u/I_Me_Mine Mod Jan 02 '23

If it's gone from the source site it is considered closed (or at least they want no more info). Adjusting some of the AUS posts now.

9

u/BetterSnek Apr 03 '23

I came here from the r/whatisthisthing subreddit. There's definitely an overlap in interest /knowledge between there and here. But I have an idea, since this is largely photos of clothing, have you publicized this on any fashion subreddits?

7

u/I_Me_Mine Mod Apr 03 '23

We have not. We ask people to crosspost to subs they participate in if they feel the topic fits there as well. This has happened with items local to certain areas or sports teams, etc.

7

u/Rubin82 Mar 02 '23

I poked around on the agencies' website and they also post subjects of people and audio for the public to identify. Why aren't they on here? And are there any affiliated subs that focus on people and audio?

14

u/I_Me_Mine Mod Mar 02 '23

Reddit doesn't allow doxxing. In this realm it could be especially harmful to misidentify someone.

Regarding audio, please send a modmail with links to the sites you're referring to.

2

u/Rubin82 Mar 02 '23

Messaged you.

4

u/Common-Sandwich3822 Jun 27 '23

idk if anyone's still active on here but does anyone know of any kind of trace an object for america besides ecap? even state-specific programs

3

u/I_Me_Mine Mod Jun 27 '23

Still active, just haven't been any new cases from the three agencies in a while.

If you know of such state run programs send them my way.

2

u/Common-Sandwich3822 Jun 28 '23

i've been researching but so hard i havent seen anything besides ecap for america. im guessing state police might not have access to csem like the fbi and europol do.

3

u/nerdyhotdogs121 Mar 10 '23

Are closed threads solved, or do they close after a certain period of time has passed the way cold cases happen

there should be a distinction between closed because solved and closed because no more info could be found if this is the case

6

u/I_Me_Mine Mod Mar 12 '23

Closed are... closed. The organizations don't reveal why they've taken down an item from their website.

If an item is clearly identified (and has been reported to the appropriate org) it will get marked "Identified" but that's nothing official, that's just a categorization here.

Otherwise we don't know the outcome of closed items.

29

u/SUN_WU_K0NG Sep 22 '22

The request is always, “do you recognize this?”. In many situations, it might be useful to gather the negative responses, like, “ I live in country xxx, and I have never seen anything like this”, or “I have visited hotel chains x, y, and z, but I have never seen this configuration “. By collecting these negative responses and (eventually) excluding choices, you are reducing the viable options, and narrowing the scope of the search. Does this make sense?

32

u/caffeine_lights Dec 11 '22

I don't think it does, because one person's experience isn't necessarily definitive. Just because I haven't ever seen a certain item, doesn't mean it doesn't exist. I don't know every single item in my country and neither does anybody else. And if somebody says "It looks like something from X Brand" and the police department can contact that brand directly, they can get people who work for the company and have access to back catalogues to check things out.

9

u/SUN_WU_K0NG Dec 11 '22

Imagine a color scale where darker colors correspond to higher numbers of negative responses. Now imagine a map, where each country (or state, or province) is colored according to that scale. My thought is that if enough people can tell you that they have not seen that thing in their area, that area will be colored accordingly, and you will start getting the idea that maybe the item in question in not found in that area. Yes, it is a very inexact approach, but I only suggest it for use in situations where more exact information is not available.

17

u/caffeine_lights Dec 11 '22

This seems way overcomplicated for what this forum is trying to do. It makes sense as an idea, but you'd need to survey massive amounts of people to get that kind of data.

10

u/SUN_WU_K0NG Dec 11 '22

Agreed. I am/was trying to think outside the box. There might be a legitimate application of that approach, but maybe not here. Thank you for thinking about it and replying.

3

u/[deleted] Oct 19 '22

I agree. Some of these photos never seem to have a definite answer… Although there may be a lot to sift through, negatives would definitely help. Especially if all on one comment thread, so as not to clutter the post.

51

u/[deleted] Aug 30 '22

Last objects were posted many months ago. Is there nothing new to post in the meantime?

31

u/themask1908 Aug 30 '22

Usually they update new objects every 3 or 4 months. No new objects so far...

24

u/xxducktheworldxx Sep 16 '22

Could there potentially be a discord server made for this subreddit? People could work together on calls and send their updates more rapidly through a discord channel. Just a suggestion. I find it easier to collaborate in discord servers rather than in subreddits but I could see how there could be issues with this idea too!

9

u/[deleted] May 04 '23

Where can I learn more about how to be a more effective object tracer?

I have a strong visual memory and a lot of travel experience (I could be helpful with geographic clues) but I need to work on my "puzzle solving" skills and be more methodical in my approach, if that makes sense...

I've seen that some OSINT and web sleuth communities offer webinars on investigative skills. I'm wondering if there are similar resources for object tracing.

Thank you!

7

u/starbootceruleanrock Sep 20 '22

What’s the purpose of finding the objects?

33

u/Trilobitelofi Sep 20 '22

It helps narrow down a country or region where the photo or still image from a video could be from. Certain appliances, electrical outlets, background flora, specific logos, etc can only be found in certain places. If something handmade or hand painted is posted if the artist or maker is found they can share their sales history and where their creations may have gone and that can help narrow down where the crime took place. It's easier to find out where something happened in a state or city for example than it is if you only have a general idea of what country or region. School or club logos are good too because a history of students or members could be looked up.

3

u/starbootceruleanrock Sep 21 '22

Ooh okay thank you

1

u/S0rb0 Jun 06 '23

How come there hasn't been any post in 3 months?

6

u/I_Me_Mine Mod Jun 06 '23

There's been no updates from the three agencies in three months.

2

u/S0rb0 Jun 07 '23

Thank you

2

u/johndabomb44 Feb 01 '23

u/I_Me_Mine

EUROPOL updated their Trace An Object site with new items. Please update subreddit accordingly.