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What types of commercial buildings consume the most energy?

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LED Lighting Supply identified by their principal use which types of commercial buildings consume the most energy using data from the Energy Information Administration. 
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Running a business isn’t just a time-consuming venture: It can eat up a huge amount of energy as well. Commercial buildings account for an estimated 18% of total U.S. energy consumption, costing around $190 billion annually. These buildings house industries including health care, food services, retail, education, worship services, public safety, and more.

Although personal residences have more flexibility to lower comfort to save money—think turning down the thermostat even in those cold winter months to save on your heating bill— commercial facilities are often expected to provide amenities to customers continuously, no matter the cost. This can include electricity-intensive air conditioning, heating, refrigeration, and lighting.

Electricity and gas are the main energy sources for commercial buildings, with electricity making up 60% of energy consumed, while natural gas accounts for 34%. Buildings over 100,000 square feet make up just 2% of commercial buildings in the U.S. but account for over one-third of total energy consumed across all commercial facilities, according to a Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey released in 2022.

Using data from the Energy Information AdministrationLED Lighting Supply identified commercial buildings by their principal use to determine which consume the most energy. The data is from 2018 and was released in December 2022.

The uses include space heating, cooling, ventilation, water heating, lighting, cooking, refrigeration, office equipment, and computing. It is important to note that although some uses have the highest overall energy use due to their prevalence within a certain industry, they do not necessarily have the highest per-building energy use.

Vacant retail shop fronts.

Mark Winfrey // Shutterstock

#13. Vacant buildings

– Annual energy use for vacant buildings: 5B kilowatt-hours (39K kilowatt-hours per building)

Even vacant buildings use a considerable amount of energy, often from keeping systems running that are necessary to keep the building functional. Around 40% of a vacant building’s energy output is used to heat the space, another 20% for cooling, and 10% for lighting. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when virtually all office buildings were left empty, many companies found that their leases legally bound them to keep heating, cooling, and other systems operating for a certain minimum of hours.

Fire truck pulling out of fire station.

Wangkun Jia // Shutterstock

#12. Public order and safety

– Annual energy use for public order and safety: 21B kilowatt-hours (263K kilowatt-hours per building)
— Fire or police station: 7B kilowatt-hours (122K kilowatt-hours per building)
— Courthouse or probation office: 5B kilowatt-hours (595K kilowatt-hours per building)
— Other public order: 9B kilowatt-hours (794K kilowatt-hours per building)

Around 35% of energy in a public order building is directed towards heating, and a further 10% each towards cooling, water heating, and lighting. In fire stations specifically, the kitchen, gym, laundry, and other appliances are used more than in a typical household, serving the round-the-clock staff that spends time there on-call. Apparatus bays where firetrucks are housed also require a substantial amount of heating. In police stations, telephone lines, computer networks, HVAC systems, and other electricity-powered systems are also kept running for extended hours.

Modern church facade.

Sean Pavone // Shutterstock

#11. Religious worship

– Annual energy use for religious worship: 27B kilowatt-hours (61K kilowatt-hours per building)

It’s no surprise that nearly half of a religious worship space’s energy expenditure goes towards heating. Many of these buildings are notoriously old, open, and/or drafty, meaning that insulation is poor. Oftentimes, high ceilings allow heat to rise far above occupants, requiring more energy to keep the space comfortable. Many particularly old spaces were built with outdated systems that are not energy-efficient.

Wide view of a car repair shop.

Memory Stockphoto // Shutterstock

#10. Service

– Annual energy use for service: 45B kilowatt-hours (52K kilowatt-hours per building)
— Post office or postal center: 5B kilowatt-hours (145K kilowatt-hours per building)
— Vehicle service or repair: 12B kilowatt-hours (44K kilowatt-hours per building)
— Vehicle storage or maintenance: 14B kilowatt-hours (38K kilowatt-hours per building)
— Other service: 14B kilowatt-hours (71K kilowatt-hours per building)

At least 50% of a service building’s energy is spent on heating, more than any other commercial industry. Lighting also makes up a significant portion of their energy, at nearly 20%. For vehicle service and repair buildings, garages and maintenance areas require large amounts of energy, although cooling energy can be cut down by using natural airflow from garage doors in the warm months. Lighting, ventilation, and welding and power equipment all require large amounts of electricity in these areas as well. In post offices, dock doors where trucks are loaded can result in poor insulation when not closed properly, resulting in inefficient use of heating systems.

View down a grocery aisle.

Kunal Mehta // Shutterstock

#9. Food sales

– Annual energy use for food sales: 54B kilowatt-hours (329K kilowatt-hours per building)
— Convenience store (with or without gas station): 19B kilowatt-hours (156K kilowatt-hours per building)
— Grocery store or food market: 34B kilowatt-hours (1.0 million kWh per building)

Food sales buildings have the largest proportion of energy used towards refrigeration, at nearly 40%. Though overall energy intensity is relatively the same between food sales and food service buildings, food sales buildings have a higher electricity intensity compared to natural gas. Such buildings tend to have extended service hours compared to other commercial buildings, upping their energy consumption.

Group of chefs working in a kitchen.

ZoranOrcik // Shutterstock

#8. Food service

– Annual energy use for food service: 61B kilowatt-hours (212K kilowatt-hours per building)
— Fast food: 18B kilowatt-hours (260K kilowatt-hours per building)
— Restaurant or cafeteria: 37B kilowatt-hours (214K kilowatt-hours per building)
— Other food service: 5B kilowatt-hours (120K kilowatt-hours per building)

Food service is one of the three highest energy-intensive industries. Unsurprisingly, it eclipses all other commercial industries in the proportion of energy that is dedicated to cooking, at around 40%. This can include food preparation meant for mass consumption, but not small-scale or personal preparation like vending machines, coffee pots, or microwaves.

Back view of movie theater audience and screen.

Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock

#7. Public assembly

– Annual energy use for public assembly: 87B kilowatt-hours (179K kilowatt-hours per building)
— Library: 7B kilowatt-hours (267K kilowatt-hours per building)
— Entertainment or culture: 17B kilowatt-hours (246K kilowatt-hours per building)
— Recreation: 30B kilowatt-hours (195K kilowatt-hours per building)
— Social or meeting: 26B kilowatt-hours (116K kilowatt-hours per building)
— Other assembly: 8B kilowatt-hours (397K kilowatt-hours per building)

Public assembly buildings expend nearly half of their energy use on heating and around 20% on cooling the space. Movie theaters tend to use higher amounts of energy for air conditioning, but perhaps less than expected for ventilation. Those large screens and booming sound systems also demand large amounts of electricity, although if enough people attend a film screening, it can actually be more energy-efficient than a single person watching alone at home.

Interior of a modern warehouse.

Roman Vyshnikov // Shutterstock

#6. Warehouses and storage

– Annual energy use for warehouses and storage: 95B kilowatt-hours (120K kilowatt-hours per building)
— Nonrefrigerated: 85B kilowatt-hours (108K kilowatt-hours per building)
— Refrigerated: 10B kilowatt-hours (2.8 million kWh per building)

In general, warehouses expend about 40% of their energy on heating, 20% on lighting, and 10% on cooling, although there are differences depending on whether the facility is refrigerated or nonrefrigerated. Refrigerated warehouses store perishable or sensitive food and medicine products, including produce, seafood, nutritional supplements, vaccines, blood samples, and/or cosmetics. They naturally expend a large amount of energy on refrigeration and are projected to grow in use in the coming years.

Staff in a busy lobby of modern hospital.

Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock

#5. Health care

– Annual energy use for health care: 96B kilowatt-hours (698K kilowatt-hours per building)
— Inpatient: 65B kilowatt-hours (7.6 million kWh per building)
— Outpatient: 31B kilowatt-hours (238K kilowatt-hours per building)

Inpatient health care facilities are among the most energy-intensive commercial buildings for both heating and ventilation, completing the trio (along with food service and food sales) of the three most energy-intensive industries overall. Between inpatient and outpatient facilities, fairly similar percentages of energy are used for heating and cooling, although outpatient facilities used proportionally more energy towards lighting and ventilation.

Health care energy consumption is largely dominated by heating, cooling, ventilation, lighting, and running medical equipment. There are “strict air quality requirements for hospitals to maintain safety and comfort,” leading to extensive use of HVAC systems. Because hospitals run on a 24-hour basis, they also tend to dedicate more energy towards lighting and equipment than other industries.

Businessman at front desk of a hotel lobby.

antoniodiaz // Shutterstock

#4. Lodging

– Annual energy use for lodging: 100B kilowatt-hours (484K kilowatt-hours per building)
— Hotel: 46B kilowatt-hours (703K kilowatt-hours per building)
— Motel or inn: 9B kilowatt-hours (222K kilowatt-hours per building)
— Dormitory, fraternity, or sorority: 9B kilowatt-hours (268K kilowatt-hours per building)
— Nursing home or assisted living: 30B kilowatt-hours (788K kilowatt-hours per building)
— Other lodging: 6B kilowatt-hours (212K kilowatt-hours per building)

Lodging buildings dedicate fairly equal proportions of energy towards space heating and water heating—about 20% each—and slightly less towards cooking and ventilation. Hotels in particular can’t avoid using energy for nearly every amenity, including refrigeration, cooling, heating, cooking, lighting, gym equipment, pools, restaurants, bars, elevators, and office equipment.

Nursing homes, motels, and dormitories tend to offer the same amenities, albeit often on smaller scales. Because multiple people and families are residing in these buildings at once, it’s not just one refrigerator or computer working within a building, as is typical of residencies—it is often several working simultaneously, exponentially increasing energy use.

Empty school hallway with lockers.

legenda // Shutterstock

#3. Education

– Annual energy use for education: 128B kilowatt-hours (293K kilowatt-hours per building)
— College or university: 23B kilowatt-hours (385K kilowatt-hours per building)
— K-12: 96B kilowatt-hours (365K kilowatt-hours per building)
— Multi-grade school (any K–12): 14B kilowatt-hours (397K kilowatt-hours per building)
— Preschool or day care: 4B kilowatt-hours (49K kilowatt-hours per building)
— Other classroom education: 5B kilowatt-hours (151K kilowatt-hours per building)

A little over 40% of energy expenditures for education were spent on heating and around 10% on cooling. Computers, vending machines, and other appliances are often left on continuously. Schools are particularly bad at maintaining energy efficiency by keeping lights on in unoccupied rooms and hallways: One school in Massachusetts has had their building lights on for a year and a half straight.

Interior of a shopping mall with escalators.

Radu Bercan // Shutterstock

#2. Mercantile use

– Annual energy use for mercantile use: 180B kilowatt-hours (352K kilowatt-hours per building)
— Retail (other than mall): 71B kilowatt-hours (205K kilowatt-hours per building)
— Enclosed and strip malls: 109B kilowatt-hours (657K kilowatt-hours per building)

Mercantile buildings expend about a quarter of their energy on heating, though retail footprints located outside of mall environments tend to use comparatively more of their energy expenditure on lighting and ventilation. Malls use proportionally more energy on cooking, refrigeration, and water heating, possibly due to food courts and food vendors existing alongside shops. Other sources of energy use include both interior and exterior lighting (think of those large neon signs beckoning you to explore stores and sales), computers and tablets used at checkout, and water fountains and vending machines.

Elevated view of a busy open plan office.

Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock

#1. Offices

– Annual energy use for offices: 227B kilowatt-hours (234K kilowatt-hours per building)
— Administrative or professional: 126B kilowatt-hours (227K kilowatt-hours per building)
— Bank or other financial: 9B kilowatt-hours (193K kilowatt-hours per building)
— Government: 32B kilowatt-hours (251K kilowatt-hours per building)
— Medical (nondiagnostic): 5B kilowatt-hours (99K kilowatt-hours per building)
— Mixed-use: 50B kilowatt-hours (423K kilowatt-hours per building)
— Other office: 5B kilowatt-hours (69K kilowatt-hours per building)

Offices are the second-highest commercial users of computing systems, second only to computing-heavy data centers. Computing here can include the use of computers, laptops, monitors, and servers. The largest proportion of an office’s energy is spent on heating, ventilating, and lighting. Water heaters, server rooms, and some lighting fixtures are designed to operate continuously within office spaces to ensure uninterrupted functionality.

This story originally appeared on LED Lighting Supply and was produced and
distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio.

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How businesses can protect themselves from the rising threat of deepfakes

Dive into the world of deepfakes and explore the risks, strategies and insights to fortify your organization’s defences

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In Billy Joel’s latest video for the just-released song Turn the Lights Back On, it features him in several deepfakes, singing the tune as himself, but decades younger. The technology has advanced to the extent that it’s difficult to distinguish between that of a fake 30-year-old Joel, and the real 75-year-old today.

This is where tech is being used for good. But when it’s used with bad intent, it can spell disaster. In mid-February, a report showed a clerk at a Hong Kong multinational who was hoodwinked by a deepfake impersonating senior executives in a video, resulting in a $35 million theft.

Deepfake technology, a form of artificial intelligence (AI), is capable of creating highly realistic fake videos, images, or audio recordings. In just a few years, these digital manipulations have become so sophisticated that they can convincingly depict people saying or doing things that they never actually did. In little time, the tech will become readily available to the layperson, who’ll require few programming skills.

Legislators are taking note

In the US, the Federal Trade Commission proposed a ban on those who impersonate others using deepfakes — the greatest concern being how it can be used to fool consumers. The Feb. 16 ban further noted that an increasing number of complaints have been filed from “impersonation-based fraud.”

A Financial Post article outlined that Ontario’s information and privacy commissioner, Patricia Kosseim, says she feels “a sense of urgency” to act on artificial intelligence as the technology improves. “Malicious actors have found ways to synthetically mimic executive’s voices down to their exact tone and accent, duping employees into thinking their boss is asking them to transfer funds to a perpetrator’s account,” the report said. Ontario’s Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence Framework, for which she consults, aims to set guides on the public sector use of AI.

In a recent Microsoft blog, the company stated their plan is to work with the tech industry and government to foster a safer digital ecosystem and tackle the challenges posed by AI abuse collectively. The company also said it’s already taking preventative steps, such as “ongoing red team analysis, preemptive classifiers, the blocking of abusive prompts, automated testing, and rapid bans of users who abuse the system” as well as using watermarks and metadata.

That prevention will also include enhancing public understanding of the risks associated with deepfakes and how to distinguish between legitimate and manipulated content.

Cybercriminals are also using deepfakes to apply for remote jobs. The scam starts by posting fake job listings to collect information from the candidates, then uses deepfake video technology during remote interviews to steal data or unleash ransomware. More than 16,000 people reported that they were victims of this scam to the FBI in 2020. In the US, this kind of fraud has resulted in a loss of more than $3 billion USD. Where possible, they recommend job interviews should be in person to avoid these threats.

Catching fakes in the workplace

There are detector programs, but they’re not flawless. 

When engineers at the Canadian company Dessa first tested a deepfake detector that was built using Google’s synthetic videos, they found it failed more than 40% of the time. The Seattle Times noted that the problem in question was eventually fixed, and it comes down to the fact that “a detector is only as good as the data used to train it.” But, because the tech is advancing so rapidly, detection will require constant reinvention.

There are other detection services, often tracing blood flow in the face, or errant eye movements, but these might lose steam once the hackers figure out what sends up red flags.

“As deepfake technology becomes more widespread and accessible, it will become increasingly difficult to trust the authenticity of digital content,” noted Javed Khan, owner of Ontario-based marketing firm EMpression. He said a focus of the business is to monitor upcoming trends in tech and share the ideas in a simple way to entrepreneurs and small business owners.

To preempt deepfake problems in the workplace, he recommended regular training sessions for employees. A good starting point, he said, would be to test them on MIT’s eight ways the layperson can try to discern a deepfake on their own, ranging from unusual blinking, smooth skin, and lighting.

Businesses should proactively communicate through newsletters, social media posts, industry forums, and workshops, about the risks associated with deepfake manipulation, he told DX Journal, to “stay updated on emerging threats and best practices.”

To keep ahead of any possible attacks, he said companies should establish protocols for “responding swiftly” to potential deepfake attacks, including issuing public statements or corrective actions.

How can a deepfake attack impact business?

The potential to malign a company’s reputation with a single deepfake should not be underestimated.

“Deepfakes could be racist. It could be sexist. It doesn’t matter — by the time it gets known that it’s fake, the damage could be already done. And this is the problem,” said Alan Smithson, co-founder of Mississauga-based MetaVRse and investor at Your Director AI.

“Building a brand is hard, and then it can be destroyed in a second,” Smithson told DX Journal. “The technology is getting so good, so cheap, so fast, that the power of this is in everybody’s hands now.”

One of the possible solutions is for businesses to have a code word when communicating over video as a way to determine who’s real and who’s not. But Smithson cautioned that the word shouldn’t be shared around cell phones or computers because “we don’t know what devices are listening to us.”

He said governments and companies will need to employ blockchain or watermarks to identify fraudulent messages. “Otherwise, this is gonna get crazy,” he added, noting that Sora — the new AI text to video program — is “mind-blowingly good” and in another two years could be “indistinguishable from anything we create as humans.”

“Maybe the governments will step in and punish them harshly enough that it will just be so unreasonable to use these technologies for bad,” he continued. And yet, he lamented that many foreign actors in enemy countries would not be deterred by one country’s law. It’s one downside he said will always be a sticking point.

It would appear that for now, two defence mechanisms are the saving grace to the growing threat posed by deepfakes: legal and regulatory responses, and continuous vigilance and adaptation to mitigate risks. The question remains, however, whether safety will keep up with the speed of innovation.

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Small banks emerge as the top source for small business financing

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Findbusinesses4sale used the Fed's Small Business Credit Survey data to compare approval rates among small business financing options.
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When it comes to borrowing money, small businesses are most likely to apply at large banks. But they often find success with their counterparts in the finance world: small banks.

Small banks—or those with less than $10 billion in total assets—comprise most of the banks in the U.S., much like small businesses account for nearly all U.S. businesses. More than 80% of small businesses that applied for financing at small banks were at least partially approved in 2022, according to data from the Fed’s most recent survey of small business employers. However, only 30% of small businesses applied at small banks when they sought financing.

About 2 in 5 small business employers applied for some traditional financing in 2022. Most needed the money to meet operating expenses, while a little over half sought cash to expand their operations.

Findbusinesses4sale used the Fed’s Small Business Credit Survey data to compare approval rates among small business financing sources, taking a closer look at their differences. Approval rates are based on applications for loans, credit, and cash advances at the various institution types. The Fed report was released in March 2023 based on a 2022 survey of nearly 8,000 small businesses with employees.


A bar chart shows the share of small business applicants at least partially approved for loan requests, separated by the type of source applied to.

Findbusinesses4sale

Small banks surpass online lenders, finance companies in approval rates for small business applicants

Also known as community banks, small banks are well-equipped to lend to small businesses because of their intimate knowledge of local economies. Small businesses are often young, with short histories, small operations, little collateral, and unproven financial success. These factors can make it difficult for founders to qualify for credit and loans—they’re simply a riskier investment for a funder to take on.

Small banks’ decision-makers live within the same areas where they grant loans, and they have insight into how certain businesses could fare within their neighborhoods. That makes it easier for them to analyze the risk of lending to small businesses and, in turn, decide whether to approve their applications. At least 3 in 5 (61%) applicants considered to be a medium or high credit risk were approved for financing at small banks; at large banks, not even half (45%) of these riskier applicants were approved.

By operating across smaller locales, community bank operators also have the opportunity to forge stronger relationships with business founders. The Fed survey shows that about 2 in 3 small businesses that applied for financing with these banks did so because of an existing relationship. Many of these relationships were forged in the heat of the COVID-19 pandemic, when community banks came through for small businesses with relief funds, including more intensive support in understanding and completing complex applications.

Small firms applying to other sources, such as online lenders and finance companies, are most often motivated by making quick decisions and perceiving that they have a higher chance of being approved. That was the case five years ago, but approval rates for both sources lagged behind small banks in 2022. Indeed, approval rates at both have fallen significantly since 2019, while approvals at small banks have grown.

Both online lenders and finance companies still approve slightly higher shares of applicants with medium to high credit risks compared to small banks, but only by a few percentage points. At the same time, many more borrowers reported dissatisfaction and challenges working with these lenders, including high interest rates and unfavorable repayment terms.

On the other hand, the vast majority of borrowers from small banks were happy with their experience—much more than those who borrowed from any other type of lender.

Story editing by Ashleigh Graf. Copy editing by Paris Close. Photo selection by Ania Antecka.

This story originally appeared on Findbusinesses4sale and was produced and
distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio.

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The new reality of how VR can change how we work

It’s not just for gaming — from saving lives to training remote staff, here’s how virtual reality is changing the game for businesses

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Until a few weeks ago, you might have thought that “virtual reality” and its cousin “augmented reality” were fads that had come and gone. At the peak of the last frenzy around the technology, the company formerly known as Facebook changed its name to Meta in 2021, as a sign of how determined founder Mark Zuckerberg was to create a VR “metaverse,” complete with cartoon avatars (who for some reason had no legs — they’ve got legs now, but there are some restrictions on how they work).

Meta has since spent more than $36 billion on metaverse research and development, but so far has relatively little to show for it. Meta has sold about 20 million of its Quest VR headsets so far, but according to some reports, not many people are spending a lot of time in the metaverse. And a lack of legs for your avatar probably isn’t the main reason. No doubt many were wondering: What are we supposed to be doing in here?

The evolution of virtual reality

Things changed fairly dramatically in June, however, when Apple demoed its Vision Pro headset, and then in early February when they were finally available for sale. At $3,499 US, the device is definitely not for the average consumer, but using it has changed the way some think about virtual reality, or the “metaverse,” or whatever we choose to call it.

Some of the enhancements that Apple has come up with for the VR headset experience have convinced Vision Pro true believers that we are either at or close to the same kind of inflection point that we saw after the release of the original iPhone in 2007.Others, however, aren’t so sure we are there yet.

The metaverse sounds like a place where you bump into giant dinosaur avatars or play virtual tennis, but ‘spatial computing’ puts the focus on using a VR headset to enhance what users already do on their computers. Some users generate multiple virtual screens that hang in the air in front of them, allowing them to walk around their homes or offices and always have their virtual desktop in front of them.

VR fans are excited about the prospect of watching a movie on what looks like a 100-foot-wide TV screen hanging in the air in front of them, or playing a video game. But what about work-related uses of a headset like the Vision Pro? 

Innovating health care with VR technology

One of the most obvious applications is in medicine, where doctors are already using remote viewing software to perform checkups or even operations. At Cambridge University, game designers and cancer researchers have teamed up to make it easier to see cancer cells and distinguish between different kinds.

Heads-up displays and other similar kinds of technology are already in use in aerospace engineering and other fields, because they allow workers to see a wiring diagram or schematic while working to repair it. VR headsets could make such tasks even easier, by making those diagrams or schematics even larger, and superimposing them on the real thing. The same kind of process could work for digital scans of a patient during an operation.

Using virtual reality, patients and doctors could also do remote consultations more easily, allowing patients to describe visually what is happening with them, and giving health professionals the ability to offer tips and direct recommendations in a visual way. 

This would not only help with providing care to people who live in remote areas, but could also help when there is a language barrier between doctor and patient. 

Impacting industry worldwide

One technology consulting firm writes that using a Vision Pro or other VR headset to streamline assembly and quality control in maintenance tasks. Overlaying diagrams, 3D models, and other digital information onto an object in real time could enable “more efficient and error-free assembly processes,” by providing visual cues, step-by-step guidance, and real-time feedback. 

In addition to these kinds of uses, virtual reality could also be used for remote onboarding for new staff in a variety of different roles, by allowing them to move around and practice training tasks in a virtual environment.

Some technology watchers believe that the retail industry could be transformed by virtual reality as well. Millions of consumers have become used to buying online, but some categories such as clothing and furniture have lagged, in part because it is difficult to tell what a piece of clothing might look like once you are wearing it, or what that chair will look like in your home. But VR promises the kind of immersive experience where that becomes possible.

While many consumers may see this technology only as an avenue for gaming and entertainment, it’s already being leveraged by businesses in manufacturing, health care and workforce development. Even in 2020, 91 per cent of businesses surveyed by TechRepublic either used or planned to adopt VR or AR technology — and as these technological advances continue, adoption is likely to keep ramping up.

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