AlignVR Hosts Open House in Edmonton

June 28, 2022 | As Edmonton companies return to in-person operations and tackle new challenges of team-building and talent management, AlignVR launches a new virtual reality service. One that allows the local business community to understand and elevate their teams through a novel, accurate, soft skills evaluation toolset.

In development for several years and honed through a successful pilot project with France-based Airbus, AlignVR’s downtown Edmonton VR labs will be the first place in the world where companies of all sizes can effortlessly access this new technology as needed.

“AlignVR approaches the question of soft skills evaluation by using virtual reality to give business owners and HR managers insight that traditional methods miss,” said Co-Founder and CEO Alex Rossol. “This means managers can better understand the hidden strengths and weaknesses of their teams, retain talent, and make better hiring decisions.”

In a traditional team-building exercise, the evaluator does not get a true representation of a person compared to their day-to-day self because the employee will act differently knowing they are being evaluated — or answer questions by trying to provide the ‘right’ answer.

With the immersion of the virtual world and the immediacy of the team-based VR tasks developed in-house, the AlignVR session imposes a cognitive load that results in people acting much more like themselves. The result is the reliable, organic production of more authentic behaviours that illustrate more accurately how well the participants perform in terms of common desired soft skills:

• Team-working skills (coordinating and collaborating with others)
• Analytical reasoning and critical thinking
• ​Complex problem-solving
• Agility and adaptability, decision-making
• Ethical judgement

“Managers and employees are far better equipped to understand how they can grow both as a team and as individuals because they’re working with real information and a powerful shared experience,” Rossol said.

Edmonton business leaders, HR professionals, and media are invited to AlignVR’s Open House on July 14, 2pm-5pm, to experience a hands-on demonstration of the virtual reality system. Attendees will try VR tasks and challenges, and will be shown how AlignVR uses observational data to develop actionable professional development plans, select better-qualified candidates, and reduce the impact of personal bias in team building and recruitment.