The idea of IR vision firefighting, being able to see the elements in your water, etc, these are all basically ubiquitous computing, and we're kind of getting there with IoT putting sensors in everything. What is missing is a way of intuitively accessing and building it into our thought processes in a manner less clunky than fetching a phone, unlocking, launching an app.
What we need is Google Glass, or equivalent. The real place where Google Glass fell down was not in it's handling of privacy concerns, strictly, it was there attempt to try and make it exclusive and elite, like they did with the Google Mail launch, where you needed invites.
I can't help but feel that if Google had made the "explorer" program humbler and quieter, followed by an accessible general release, we'd have access to so much more today.
I think right now lots of people are trying to boil the ocean and try to make AR truly part of our bodies, when really there's a huge amount of low hanging fruit in simply getting information to be ever-present and available.
Flicking your eyes up is a good first step. Later, overlaying the same information into our field of view. Later still, integration of that data into the body, rather than just presentation of it to the physical senses.
However, I have known deaf people who say they have no interest in "curing" their deafness, and who suggest that the development and widespread use of such a complete cure would destroy a culture.
I think you are thinking of a eusocial hivemind organization. Though they are very good at getting goals done, like building these tunnels or that termite mound, they are not very adaptable outside of their environmental niche. It's the opposite of capitalism you speak of. Democracy is a thousand voices all yelling different songs to make a chorus, and it is slow and messy. However, it tends to find the 'right' choice at a higher rate than the top down model.