In a former life I sketched out dozens of different possibilities for how over the course of decades society might end up with people wearing Head Mounted Displays (HMDs) out and about.

The enumeration included everything I could think of ever working, including "Smartphone AR with Google Lens," "Snapchat World Filters", "Specialized limited-function Googles", and for completeness even "Direct Neural Links".

Each idea had a ton of headwinds and a very shallow gradient of activation.

The most promising gradient by far was high-resolution, low-latency inside-out VR by the only provider who can do vertical integration and get users to wear it without feeling like a dweeb: Apple.

You'll know the Apple Vision Pro gradient is happening when you see people you don't recognize wearing it on the street and it's so normal you don't even bother to point it out to the friend who is walking with you.