VR goggles are too anti-social on the local scale. Have kids? Dog? Spouse? Hard to see they will accept that you shield yourself off completely for long periods of time. You won't even see them coming when they start to grow tired... This is a fundamental flaw.
Then the metaverse... What is the usecase? Why is it fun or why is it useful? It might be cool for a while, but so are lots of other MMOs out there...
And I see the same sorta energy in people playing VR chat today.
What I think you miss as the usecase here is people who aren't quite happy with their identity, or are and choose a different more extreme representation. The difference between being yourself and being a fox for example.
Plenty of people in the world today are lonely, and online connection is what fills the void. They don't have kids, dogs, or spouses. They're a sixteen year old in the middle of nowhere, or a socially anxious programmer living in a shoe box.
It wasn't until years later I (somehow) managed to form a relationship with someone - who is now my wife and mother of my child - that I'm far, far happier. From my experience, VR and Second Life et al are not the answer. Getting out there and experiencing life reaps far more benefits.
> aren't quite happy with their identity,
I found the best thing to do is find like-minded people IRL.
The Black Mirror / Surrogates dystopia is already here, and most people can't get enough of it.