Take what I say with a grain of salt, because I am a Business Administration undergraduate student. That said, the practical option seems like a better option due to the rapid advancement of this field. A research-oriented approach doesn't afford you the same flexibility in terms of moving with the times. Any one of your main points could become outdated when some guy in his basement strikes gold.

For the practical path, I would suggest looking into robbery footage from convenience store/gas station/bank cameras. There are fine details that give away robbers before they execute the crime that people generally don't pick up on. Liveleak and YouTube have countless videos of over-the-counter robberies, which also highlights how applicable your final product can be to the world beyond scholarly research.