I think this entire "metaverse" idea is a trap. It's an idea that is very popular in fiction, and that makes tech people believe that this is something that should exist in the future. But the reality is that, from a user perspective, it just doesn't work very well, because it's not a good interface for most use cases for digital devices.
Why would I want to strap a clunky VR device to my head to enter a 3D VR to then awkwardly use a virtual keyboard to type an email? Why would I want to do a 3D VR call with low-polygon avatars when I can just do a regular video call? There are very few use cases where this adds anything. Even in gaming, it will probably remain a niche genre, because most genres just work better without VR, especially competitive ones where input precision and latency are crucial.
The main issue could be that everyone's clamouring for a new smartphone moment, when no technology needs to be that.
VR can live on alongside tablets and desktop computers and be a healthy nichey market. It doesn't need to take the world by storm and there is IMHO no need for it to replace Zoom calls (to be honest, Zoom calls are already the bane of our life, why would I want to pay to do them in even more constraining ways ?)
Trying to find the "next big thing" in absolutely everything is a curse.
That would lower the hardware barrier, but it would still not solve the issue that VR is not a great user interface in most situations, and I think that is something that can fundamentally not be solved. AR might be a much better bet, because that would have some actual utility in a wide variety of situations.
You can put on AR glasses right now. Maybe the issue isn't "the technology isn't good enough yet". Maybe it's just not something anybody besides hobbyists and wannabe futurists want.
Why would I want to strap a clunky VR device to my head to enter a 3D VR to then awkwardly use a virtual keyboard to type an email? Why would I want to do a 3D VR call with low-polygon avatars when I can just do a regular video call? There are very few use cases where this adds anything. Even in gaming, it will probably remain a niche genre, because most genres just work better without VR, especially competitive ones where input precision and latency are crucial.