Workforce WindsorEssex Launches Innovative Virtual Reality Workplace Tours and Library

Virtual Reality experiences connect students and jobseekers to difficult-to-access workplaces

For Immediate Release
February 26, 2020

Windsor, ON – Today, Workforce WindsorEssex, the region’s Local Employment Planning Council (LEPC), launched their new Virtual Reality Workplace Tour Videos & Library with students from St. Joseph’s Catholic High Schools.

The Virtual Reality Workplace Tours are a new series of video and Google Expeditions 360-tours of local workplaces in the region. Recognizing that in-person tours of workplaces are not always possible due to transportation costs, health & safety risks, confined workspaces, and busy employer schedules, Workforce WindsorEssex’s Virtual Reality Workplace Tours are an innovative way to immerse jobseekers and students in local workplaces.

At the launch event, students used Google Cardboard-viewing devices and their smartphones to participate in a virtual reality-guided tour through a worksite with the Carpenter’s Union, Active Industrial Solutions, Brave Control Solutions, and Best Western Plus Leamington facilities. Workforce WindsorEssex will be organizing their new virtual tours with other immersive and photo- and video-tours created by other companies in their new Virtual Reality Workplace Tour Library.

Tours are mobile and desktop-friendly and are available online on the Workforce WindsorEssex website, however Google Cardboard viewers can create a more immersive experience. Workforce WindsorEssex will also distribute 1,000 custom-printed Google Cardboard viewers to give local students and jobseekers through partnering school boards and employment organizations.

The Virtual Reality Workplace Tour Library can be accessed at https://www.workforcewindsoressex.com/vr.

 

QUOTES:

“Providing first-hand experience between students and workplaces is an important step in addressing the skills shortage in Windsor-Essex. Through these virtual reality tours, students and jobseekers are able to see inside difficult-to-tour facilities and worksites they otherwise would not have access to.”

  • Michelle Suchiu, Executive Director, Workforce WindsorEssex

“Over the last few years we’ve been introducing virtual and augmented reality into our classrooms and our students have completely embraced the technology. Using it in such a practical way to help them explore a variety of post-secondary pathways will help them fulfill their own aspirations while supporting our local economy by directing students into sectors that are in need of highly qualified people.”

  • Dan Fister, Executive Superintendent of Innovation and Experiential Learning, Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board

“The Virtual Reality Workplace Tour Library promotes career exploration by jobseekers and students. Workforce WindsorEssex is leveraging advancements in the affordability and accessibility of virtual reality technology in order to provide these significant workplace experiences to jobseekers, students, and the broader community.”

  • Julian Villafuerte, Project Coordinator & Researcher, Workforce WindsorEssex 

QUICK FACTS:

  • The Virtual Reality Workplace Tour Library currently features eight workplace tours in the manufacturing, construction, business, education, and healthcare sectors in addition to the four new videos produced by Workforce WindsorEssex showcasing the workplaces of the Carpenter’s Union, Active Industrial Solutions, Brave Control Solutions, and Best Western Plus Leamington.
  • Each tour produced by Workforce WindsorEssex have two separate viewing methods—a Video Tour which can be viewed in 2D on a computer or mobile device or through VR using Google Cardboard, and an Immersive Photo Tour, which can be viewed on a computer or mobile device using Google Expeditions.
  • The Institute for Border Logistics and Security is home to the largest Virtual Reality cave in Canada and provides companies the opportunity to test their technologies related to Connected and Autonomous Vehicles.

 

QUICK LINKS:

 

MEDIA CONTACT:

Justin Falconer
Senior Director
Workforce WindsorEssex
(519) 980-5826
jfalconer@workforcewindsoressex.com

 

About Workforce WindsorEssex

Workforce WindsorEssex is a workforce and community development board that creates labour market tools, research, guides, and events that benefit jobseekers, employers, students, educators, and the community. Founded 10 years ago by the City of Windsor, County of Essex, WindsorEssex Economic Development Corporation, and the Province of Ontario, our mandate is to plan, facilitate, and advocate for regional workforce development, defined as the development, retention, and recruitment of a wide range of skilled workers to meet the current and future economic and social development needs of Windsor-Essex.
Workforce WindsorEssex currently receives funding under four projects: Windsor Essex Local Immigration Partnership, Local Employment Planning Council, WEskills, and WE Value. Learn more at www.workforcewindsoressex.com.

About the Local Employment Planning Council project

The Local Employment Planning Council (LEPC) is funded in part by the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario. The LEPC pilot aims to increase the access to accurate, up to date, local labour market information and help pioneer new and innovative approaches to local employment planning.

 

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