Is Augmented Reality the Next Big Thing?

Greetings from the ANU in Canberra, at the Book Launch for  Augmented Reality by Mark Pesce. Dr Bell, in her introduction, mentioned needing Mark at a national library event, which I remember vividly. 

Mark gave the example of Peg Patterson Park Sydney becoming a major Pokemon AR site, changing the real space. He then showed some smart specs. 

But I was a Google Glass skeptic and still am. This is a tech which was coming and went, without really happening. I found Microsoft HoloLens much better than Google Glass, despite having a much bulkier headset.  However, even with something which looks like normal glasses, there are considerable social impediments to the technology.

Much to everyone's surprise, I suggest the last big thing we had was Zoom: old fashioned video conferencing done a bit better. The next big thing will be something like that, not augmented reality. It might be, for example, vaccination certificates with QR codes, which allow us to travel.