VR doesn’t really solve any problems. It puts the user within a video game but then gives them motion sickness using conventional navigation or immersion-breaking teleportation.

AR though? AR serves has the ability to solve many IRL problems. The first would be to de-clutter reality by moving advertising into an AR interface that can be seen only by the user. These can then be tailored to the person looking at them but crucially they are also hidden away from children just looking at the world with un-enhanced vision.

AR would allow signage and information to be updated on-the-fly without the need for energy-sapping displays or making new metallic objects. Directions to a place could be placed in front of the user.

AR could improve the lives of the differently abled by letting them know about accessibility without even moving up to an entrance or talking to staff.

AR could show a customer in a space, such as a bar all pricing and menu items by glancing around the room and having them pop-up in real time with sensors providing feedback from waiting times for food to stock levels of their favourite drink.

AR could add value to live performances by allowing musicians to add holographic light shows to their music or even allowing them to jam with their heroes live on stage in front of an actual physical crowd.

This will need a visual-based device, likely some sort of glasses or lens that can pull information from a standardised interface without needing to store it locally. Crucially it needs to be elegant in its form so as to encourage humans to want to try it.