Here is one theory, perhaps far fetched but once the novelty of new interfaces has worn off and practical application makes the utility of the metaverse a reality it makes more sense. What if they are laying the infrastructural and institutional framework for what will ultimately become a quasi matrix. Forecasting the necessity of off site and remote workplaces coupled with the masses that will be home bound due to chronic illnesses resulting drom the vax, this may be the building blocks for the robotic service workers remotely operated by "plugged in" workers. The"3D" jobs, any of which are too computationally intensive for autonomous systems to perform reliably could then be done by the disabled and infirm remotely. Underwater welding, mining, soldiering, law enforcement, and agricultural harvesting all done with inexpensive robots with 3d cameras and haptic feedback. Human controlled remote robotics could then do the work that this generation of liberal arts degree graduates are too entitled or to weak to perform. I know this is a little sci-fi at the present but the dream of self driving cars, or autonomous robo soldiers has proven more difficult to implement both from an AI standpoint but also from a liability profile. If you remove the costs associated ie job injuries, accidental death, and loss of productivity from unreliability and inflexibly due to geographical limitations, the prospect of buying a rugged and purpose built robot to pick produce, pave roads, police streets, occupy battle zones, etc gets a little more reasonable. Hell you could even get away with allowing children to perform tasks with low liability indexes. Simultaneously, you can reduce the workforce substantially as an 8 hour day of picking oranges or strawberries is much more physically difficult than a 12 hour shift on the VR farm.