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AVENUES

The Accenture Virtual Experience Solution: Immersive learning to increase empathy and reduce bias.

AVENUES VR solution: What it is

Public sector workers make important decisions every day that have significant impact on people’s lives. It is a responsibility that demands certain skills and experience in understanding human dynamics. AVENUES is a learning method that harnesses the power of technology to transform the hiring, training, and continued skill development for frontline staff across the public sector. ​

AVENUES aims to help users come to a deeper understanding of their own thought processes in terms of how they make decisions and develop opinions. Left unexamined, those processes can lead to decisions that are made in the flash of an eye. AVENUES is an opportunity to broaden each worker’s ability to observe, inquire, interpret, and reflect in a way that informs a more robust and firmly grounded professional opinion.

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The Metaverse Continuum

Where change, imagination and opportunity meet.

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How it works

Immersion: AVENUES immerses users into highly realistic scenarios designed to evoke a response. It uses actors filmed on green screen and stitched into carefully dressed locations. The experience is voice activated so that users have the sense that they are sitting across the table from another person who is looking them in the eye and conversing.​

Reflection: Next, we bring groups of users together in carefully curated seminars. These interactive workshops prompt reflection about how each of us behaved in the headset and create an opportunity for users to learn from one another.​

Analysis: Finally, AVENUES is maintained on a platform that leverages user analytics. This gives us the ability to see how large groups of people are behaving in the headset and drive future learning agendas.

Why it matters

It opens up AVENUES for all of us to:​

  • Train our empathy muscle ​

  • Be more aware of our own bias​

  • Step into positive behavior change​

Benefits of learning in virtual reality

31%

reduction in turnover.

69%

of experienced workers report improved observation, inquiry and interpretation skills.

40%

reduction in training time compared to traditional training.

75%

reduction in training resource costs.

THE IMPRINT WEBINAR

Taking on Racial Bias in Child Welfare

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Awards and recognition

2022 Anthem Awards -- Advancing Race Equity in VR (Tory's Home Visit) has been awarded GOLD for Best Special Projects, which recognizes projects that raise awareness via Responsible Technology. The same project also received a SILVER award in the Innovation category, which identifies new and innovative techniques that are advancing and improving the community.

 

VR Social Impact Award - AVENUES – Race Equity in Child Welfare was recognized by AIXR (The Academy of International Extended Reality) in 2021 for achievements in human services.

 

GSMA GLOMO Awards - AVENUES was the recipient of “Best Mobile VR or AR” in 2019. The GLOMOs are a testament to the incredible innovation and ingenuity shaping our industry.

 

SXSW Interactive Innovations - AVENUES was a finalist in the 2019 SXSW Interactive Innovation Awards, which recognizes the most exciting tech developments in the connected world.

AVENUES in action

AVENUES offers a content library that’s universally applicable across the public sector. It is currently used by government agencies and universities specializing in child welfare, mental health and addiction services, public assistance, childcare, and health and human services.

An opportunity to practice observing, inquiring, and interpreting human behavior, especially when what people say and what they do don’t match up.

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An opportunity to practice navigating power dynamics and managing conflict, particularly when it might rise to the level of violence.

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An opportunity to deepen our understanding of how and when race bias enters our decision-making process.

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An opportunity to focus on how trauma impacts us over generations and to consider ways to help people begin to heal.

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An opportunity to practice understanding what young children are trying to tell us when they are not using words to do it.

An opportunity to practice empathy with families trying to navigate the complexities of public assistance programs.

Case studies

San Diego County wanted to address error rates in eligibility decisions that affect whether families get the essential benefits needed to access food, health care and basic needs. The County recognized that new caseworkers needed more “real world” experience to help them conduct interviews to validate eligibility.

San Diego County selected AVENUES to train eligibility caseworkers so that they can feel confident on day one by creating a new learning module for the AVENUES program that focused specifically on eligibility.

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The Georgia Division of Family & Children Services (DFCS) sought to accelerate the pace with which their child welfare caseworkers could build the experience and confidence to make the tough decisions faced daily.

 

Solution
Georgia DFCS partnered with Accenture to pilot AVENUES as supplemental training for their child welfare workers. Through VR, users are transported into real-world scenarios where they practice making tough decisions in stressful situations. Followed by a carefully curated seminar, users work together to evaluate their approach and increase their ability to observe and interpret human behavior.

 

Result
During the initial phase, approximately 250 DFCS caseworkers and supervisors (15% of frontline staff) completed the learning cycle. Preliminary feedback suggests the training should be incorporated into the new case manager training academy in the future. The State of Georgia sees much promise in this training platform as a way to improve decision making and child safety.

Tech Vision 2023

When Atoms meet Bits

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AVENUES in the news

Using VR to improve child welfare services

Facing a high turnover rate, Indiana's Child Services Department used VR to better prepare family case workers for a tough job. Read more.

Virtual reality can improve employee retention

Indiana Department of Child Services decreased staff turnover by 31% and laid the foundation for a data-centric transformation. Read more.

Accenture wins GLOMO award for VR mobile app

The Accenture Virtual Experience Solutions (AVENUES) has won “Best Mobile VR or AR” at the GSMA GLOMO Awards 2019. Read more.

Our leaders

Molly Tierney

Managing Director – Public Service, Child Welfare, North America

Molly has spent 25+ years improving outcomes for vulnerable citizens, most recently as the Director for Baltimore Department of Social Services.

Meet Molly

Dan Buie

Senior Manager, Health and Human Services, North America

Dan combines expertise in business, technology, and design to help organizations achieve their strategic objectives through digital transformation.

Meet Dan