Police may be able to build 3D maps of crime scenes in as little as 20 minutes, thanks to new Australian technology.

The handheld Zebedee scanner, developed by the CSIRO, uses a powerful laser to sweep an environment and create a 3D map accurate to the centimetre.

The scanner had already been used and was saving police “many thousands of hours in investigation”, Queensland police commissioner Ian Stewart said at the device’s official launch on Friday.

He said the scanner would be particularly useful in crime scenes involving fatal traffic accidents, unsteady terrain or rough weather, where evidence might quickly degrade.

While the scanner wouldn’t replace traditional police methods of solving crimes, Stewart said it would lead to “faster capture of accurate information in our investigation process. That gives our people time to do other things”.

It would also be used to vividly illustrate crime scenes to juries.

The device is named after a character in the BBC animated series The Magic Roundabout, who, like the scanner, rested on springs.

The technology was developed in Brisbane. Queensland police are the first law enforcement organisation in the world to take it up.

The CSIRO says the next step is to make the Zebedee scanner airborne, so that it could access and explore remote crime scenes.