I'm not necessarily predicting that AR will actually succeed or be useful, just that a lot of VC money will try to jump on the bandwagon now that Apple has
Why be on video when for the majority of people and conversations, just voice is 100% as good and you don't have to be seen? People hate being perceived, that's why people hate work zoom calls so specifically. "This could have been a phone call or email."
Anecdotally, I think there's a neurotypical-neurodivergent divide on video calls, but it's definitely understudied.
Video chat is pretty much my entire social life now due to COVID. Met the vast majority of my current friends over Zoom. I know you said earlier you're still masking - if you don't know where to find video chat social events for covid-conscious people I can get you some links.