> If anyone here is in the know with the AR/VR scene, could they shed some light on why AR hasn't taken off yet?

Because demand is too low, and prior attempts at hyping it up with marketing ended like google glass?

I do work in an engineering consultancy that did a dozen of VR/AR toys over the last 5 years.

Some of quite big brands around use our tech, and engineering, though NDAs, NDAs, NDAs...

There is no magic trick behind any of product on the market. Physics, and optics of AR/VR glasses is very simple, high school level simple. Just too many companies want to make add "smoke, and mirrors" into the optical scheme...

Making AR/VR goggles power efficient, and lightweight enough for daily use is possible even with current day tech. It's not much of a secret now that there is an IP blocker on a critical technology owned by Beijing University that shuts everything down.

Microsoft, Facebook, Apple experimenting with lasers now is all about them trying to work around that blocker.