MEGA PROJECTS....

 01

How Social Expectations Can Predict Our Social Realities

This post was co-authored by David Szwedo and Katie Shiflett, a former undergraduate student at James Madison University.

Source: Photo by Engin Akyurt on Unsplash

Think back to a time when you didn’t want to go somewhere because you thought it was going to be miserably boring, only to go and find your expectations confirmed. Or, after not being particularly thrilled about a job you applied for, went to an interview anyway, and weren’t too surprised to find out it wasn’t a good fit. We can all think of plenty of times in our lives when our expectations about something ended up being right. But what we may not be considering is how our expectations might actually predict what plays out in our lives.

One famous theory about this idea is called the self-fulfilling prophecy. The self-fulfilling prophecy suggests that when we form an expectancy about something, that expectancy colors both how we see it and how we behave towards it. If we expect to fail at something, for example, we might see it as more difficult than it really is and put in less effort to accomplish it. Then, should we fail, we are able to say we knew we would from the beginning. This broad phenomenon shows the general impact that our expectations can have over our realities: that we often allow our expectations to set us up for failures and successes. But is the same true about our relationships? How do the expectations we have about our social worlds influence our relationships with others, especially in the long term?

Researchers at the University of Virginia aimed to answer this question. In their study, using a sample of 184 adolescents, they investigated how negative social expectations in early adolescence might be related to negative consequences in future peer and romantic relationships. Teens first completed a survey when they were 13 asking about their expectations of their social worlds to determine whether the teen had more positive or negative social expectations of others. At ages 18 and 24, the teens were asked to engage in a conversation that featured a disagreement with their best friend or romantic partner. This study found that those who had had more negative social expectations in their early teenage years were likely to receive more hostility from their friends and romantic partners in their later years, showing that people’s negative expectations of their social relationships early on may indeed predict the reality of their social relationships later in life. Importantly, the study controlled for initial levels of hostile attitudes in each individual, suggesting that the results could not be solely explained by each partner simply bringing a hostile attitude to the relationship.

Although there are many things that contribute to the types of relationships we have, this study suggests that the general attitudes we hold about others might set up us for success or difficulty in future relationships. Our attitudes are likely to shape our behavior toward others, and we are likely to receive the same behavior from others that we extend to them. While there are no clear answers as to how exactly or to what degree our expectations influence our realities, there seems to be a connection between a person’s internal social expectations and the social reality that actually occurs. This suggests that changing our expectations about how others will see and behave toward us to be more positive may go a long way toward actually setting us up for more successful relationships in the future.

02

Extended reality — where we are, what’s missing, and the problems ahead

Disclosure: Qualcomm, Microsoft, HP and Lenovo are clients of the author.

Qualcomm this week offered up a comprehensive presentation on where it is with mixed reality (MR). This matters because Qualcomm is the key technology provider for untethered MR solutions. To date, MR has seen success in business for training, manufacturing, and repair — particularly in areas like aerospace, where Microsoft’s HoloLens AR has been widely adopted.

Meta is the leader on the consumer side of the market, but is struggling with the typical problem of price point vs. capability, which has fallen short because Meta’s bar is too low and expectations too high. (It’s coming out with a better option soon that could close that gap if the market buys the higher price point.)

My focus is on the commercial side of things in the context of Qualcomm’s presentation.

The four types of extended reality

Terminology is all over the map in this arena, but I’m going to use extended reality as the class name with sub-classes of VR/MR (virtual reality and mixed reality), augmented reality (AR) standalone, AR viewers, and smartglasses. The last is a particularly interesting class because it has less to do with what we typically think of as extended reality and more about putting the display on your face. 

VR/MR is what we think of when we talk immersion. Both require the entire image be rendered with the difference between VR and MR being how much is imaginary and how much is real. With VR, the entire scene exists only in software, nothing is real, and cameras (if there are cameras) are mostly used to keep you from running into things. MR uses cameras to capture the surroundings and then renders the scene with a mix of computer-generated images and rendered images of what’s around you. This is potentially the most realistic of blended solutions, but requires massive processing power, often has latency and hardware weight issues, and tends to lend itself to tethered solutions. These approaches are used for immersive training (the US Space Force is using this for space battle training) and entertainment. Of the headsets I’ve seen and tested, Varjo arguably has the best one, while HP’s Reverb G2 offers a good entry-level option.

AR standalone is best represented by Microsoft’s HoloLens and Lenovo’s ThinkReality A6 glasses, which are similar to HoloLens but move some of the weight from the head to the waist for better long-term use. This uses the technology to project a rendered image in glasses that are transparent and allow images to float like ghosts in front of the user’s eyes. Used in manufacturing and field service — and with interesting use cases in healthcare — this technology has been particularly helpful for non-repetitive manufacturing line jobs and aerospace.

AR viewer is a variant of the above and typically uses a smartphone with the glasses to lower costs while providing similar performance and capabilities. The best-known device in this class was Google Glass, which was so poorly rolled out it set back this product line for years.

And finally, there are head-mounted displays. The display sits on your head, taking the place of the display on your phone or PC. This is most useful today for watching videos, particularly those with content that you do not want seen by others. It could be used for confidential training in public areas, or to provide large-screen experiences using  portable devices. While this is not really an ER device, it could evolve into one and merge with the AR viewer segment. The product I’m most familiar with is the Lenovo ThinkReality A3 Smart glasses.

What’s missing at the moment

None of these solutions is mature yet, but both VR/MR and AR standalone are in production at scale and useful today. The AR viewer, which was crippled by Google Glass, and the head-mounted display offerings are still in their infancy, but advancing quickly.

What’s missing for immersion in the VR/MR is full-body instrumentation so you can move and interact in the virtual world(s) as you would in the real world. Hand scanning with cameras on a headset has not been very reliable and the common use of controllers creates a disconnect between how you want to interact with a virtual world and how you must react with it. This is particularly problematic with MR because you use your naked hand for touching real objects and the controller for touching rendered objects, which spoils the experience. Haptics, which Meta and others are aggressively developing, are only a poor stop-gap method; what’s needed is a way to seamlessly bring a person into the virtual world and allow full interaction and sensory perceptions as if it were the real world.

AR standalone has had issues with occlusion, which are being worked on by Qualcomm and others. When corrected, rendered objects will look more solid and less like ghostly images that are partially transparent. But the use cases for this class are very well developed, making this the most attractive solution today.

AR viewer has similar issues to AR standalone but is performing well below its potential, given it should be less expensive than AR standalone while offering similar benefits.

Head-mounted displays have been around since the early 2000s. The problem has been getting people comfortable with the glasses and providing a way to use them for more than just video viewing. They could eventually replace monitors, but users first need a better way to be able to look down and see their hands and desk, or to train people in blind typing or stronger speech-to-text skills. The latter seems unlikely.

Changing how we interact with technology

These solutions, as they mature, will change the way we interact with our smartphones and PCs. Once you can provide the experience of a large display in glasses and bring in cloud options like Windows 365, your computer moves into the cloud and you only need a high powered, wireless (5G/6G) device, not a full-on PC. 

These devices are already changing how industries train people and how they build and repair products. In time, I expect, they will dramatically change what’s on our desk and might even make the desk itself obsolete.

Copyright © 2022 IDG Communications, Inc.

03

Home Renovation Costs: Expectation vs. Reality

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If HGTV is your main reference point for pricing out your dream home renovation projects, you may be underestimating the actual costs.

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The New Yorker recently did a deep dive on HGTV and explained why that is: "HGTV shows use the real money of homeowners to cover the cost of renovations, but producers may quietly incorporate discounted goods and services, in a way that jumbles our sense of what seventy-five thousand dollars can buy. Steve Ford [co-host of the HGTV show "Home Again with the Fords"] acknowledged that participants 'are getting more for their buck than they should,' and said that an HGTV viewer could be forgiven for thinking, 'Oh, I can do this! I can make this crazy thing happen at my house that should be in a magazine. And I can do it for X dollars!'"

Think you know how much home renovations really cost? Click through to see how much five of the most popular home improvement projects will actually set you back in real life.

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Remodeling a Bathroom

Remodeling a bathroom may entail repairing or replacing toilets, sinks, vanities, countertops, lighting, ventilation/fans, flooring, doors, windows, paint, faucets and/or plumbing. According to HomeAdvisor, you should expect to spend 50% of your total budget on materials and 50% of your total budget on labor, with the average cost of labor for this project coming in at $65 an hour.

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With that in mind, can you guess how much the average bathroom remodel costs? Click through to the next slide to find out.

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The Average Cost To Remodel a Bathroom Is $11,196

Homeowners typically spend between $6,611 and $16,631 to remodel a bathroom, with the national average at $11,196, according to HomeAdvisor. Of course, how much this project actually costs will depend on the size of the bathroom, what exactly you repair/replace and how high-end you go with your fixtures. A bathroom remodel can cost as little as $3,500 on the low end to more than $28,000 on the high end.

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Painting a House's Exterior

HGTV lovers know how far a fresh coat of paint on a home's exterior can go to completely update a house's look and add to its curb appeal. However, this is not an easy undertaking -- it requires proper planning, prep work and tools, and is ideally left to a professional to handle, according to HomeAdvisor.

Do you know the average cost to paint a home's exterior? Click through to see if your expectations are in line with reality.

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The Average Cost To Paint the Exterior of a House Is $3,063

The cost to paint the exterior of a 1,500-square-foot house typically ranges from $1,772 to $4,353, according to HomeAdvisor, but you might pay up to $13,000 for a house that's 3,500 square feet. Price varies by not only the size of your home, but your location, the condition of your exterior, your exterior's level of accessibility and the material it's made of. Stucco and brick are usually more expensive to paint than vinyl or wood.

galitskaya / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Installing a Window

Adding a window to a room can help fill a space with more natural light, making it warmer and more inviting. The cost of this project will depend on accessibility and material type, but expect to pay a premium. According to HomeAdvisor, increased demand for windows has sent prices up by 5%-10% this year.

But can you guess the average cost? Click to the next slide to see if you're right.

Shutterstock.com

The Average Cost To Install a Window Is $6,367

Window installation typically costs between $2,980 and $9,767, according to HomeAdvisor. That includes labor, which runs from $150 to $800 per window -- or about $40 an hour -- and the cost of the window itself, which runs $300 to $1,200, depending on the type and material. Custom and bay windows cost $2,110 on average.

photovs / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Installing Countertops

Installing or replacing countertops in a kitchen or bathroom can give the room a whole new look -- which is why this is such a popular project on almost any HGTV show. The main cost for this project is the material, though you need to factor in labor costs as well. The price of this project will depend on the counters you choose and how much counter space you have.

Do you have a guess for the average cost of this popular home improvement project? Click through to see how close your expectations are to reality.

YinYang / Getty Images/iStockphoto

The Average Cost To Install Countertops Is $3,088

If you guessed around $3,000, you would be right. The average cost to install countertops ranges from $1,856 to $4,326, according to HomeAdvisor. Countertop materials range from $15 to $70 per square foot on average, and labor typically costs between $10 to $30 per square foot, for a total of $25 to $120 per square foot.

viki2win / Shutterstock.com

Remodeling a Kitchen

Kitchen designs have changed dramatically over the past few decades, and many homeowners now dream of having an open kitchen complete with a spacious kitchen island. But remodeling can be a huge (and expensive) undertaking. For a full remodel, expenses include design fees, installation, appliances and ventilation systems, cabinetry and hardware, countertops, lighting, flooring, doors and windows, walls and ceilings, and faucets and plumbing.

Do you know how much the average kitchen remodel costs? Click through to see if your knowledge is up to par with the HGTV experts.

alabn / Getty Images/iStockphoto

The Average Cost To Remodel a Kitchen Is $25,836

According to HomeAdvisor, most homeowners spend between $13,387 and $38,372, or $75 to $250 per square foot, to remodel their kitchen. The total cost depends on the size of the space, the quality of the material and whether you change the layout of the room.

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Andrew Lisa contributed to the reporting for this article.

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Home Renovation Costs: Expectation vs. Reality