Las Vegas Weekly

July 15, 2009 · 12:14 AM

CSI: The Experience brings crime solving to the Las Vegas Strip

By Jennifer Grafiada

Make like Grissom and solve crimes one hair follicle at a time at the MGM Grand's interactive exhibit, CSI: The Experience.

A young waitress has been found dead in an alley behind a gritty Las Vegas motel, sprawled out beneath an overflowing dumpster. A tire tread streaks across her abdomen and nearby is a picture of her, ripped in half. No other injuries are visible. Scattered among the trash are a handbag and a cell phone.

It’s up to you to figure out the who, the why and the how. CSI is returning to its Las Vegas roots with CSI: The Experience, an interactive exhibit at MGM Grand that will open this summer. And CSI’s off-screen complement isn’t some juvenile magic motion ride or lame touch screen tour. Like the show, the exhibit offers complex, true-to-life crime scenes and unsolved cases. And like the show, the exhibit’s scenarios vary in intensity – some cases are harder to crack than others.

Visitors will analyze DNA and fingerprints and employ forensic anthropology and toxicology in two state-of-the-art crime labs. With input from a staff of investigators, guests will formulate a hypothesis and validate their findings based on scientific evidence. Consider it television in 3-D or the coolest science class you’ve ever taken, either way, there’s a murderer on the streets and it’s up to you to track him down.

In the above case, cryptically titled “Who Got Served?” you will be required to go through the victim’s cell phone, purse and even make-up for fingerprints, DNA and other evidence to ascertain the time and cause of death. Finally, you’ll present your findings in a re-creation of CSI head investigator Gil Grissom’s office and compare your conclusions to a case summary by real crime scene investigators.

Pretend you are one of Horatio or Grissom’s fresh-faced interns, on your first case and feeling the pressure to prove you’ve got skills. Every fiber, every print, every piece of hair could provide the key to solving a senseless crime. Who knows, you might need your new expertise someday…

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