I think this metaverse/VR emphasis is a passing fad. We've been talking about VR for decades. Engineers focus on technology, so focus on how the technology for VR keeps getting better. But outside of very specific domains, no one wants VR.
Right now, I am pretty sure there is nothing to fit that bill. If there is in the future, I definitely want this, if only to be able to play games while lying in bed or to have several virtual computer screens for coding and work.
IMHO however, movement and tactile feedback are still lacking so far behind that I don't even know if they can be solved in a non-invasive, average user friendly manner. I mean sure, you can strap yourself to a treadmill contraption and use controllers or gloves to track your hands and maybe even wear some suit which vibrates here and there. But you won't feel real collisions, let alone texture, realistic force and acceleration. And somehow when I tried VR I felt like this was missing so much that it limits my enjoyment big time.
Sure it is, my MIL doesn't do anything on the internet other than entertainment (TV and music) and maybe email or texting. If she wanted to, she could cut it out completely and get along fine with landline phone calls and mailing bill payments and such.
also, you seem to think projecting more information onto the world is a Good Thing, this is not obvious to me.
Now-a-days I question my immediate reaction to anything.
Parallels with early computing industry? The very nature of technology adoption is such that it always appeals to a niche first aka "no one but a handful want it". Then, depending on incentives, an ecosystem crops up that continues to add value as it grows. Computers had internet to fallback on for network effects, with web and email help add value. For VR, that could be gaming, crypto-currencies, social networks... who knows what else.