I wholeheartedly agree with you in regards to VR (its a fun trinket and while I love my VR flight-sim in the end it is nothing but a toy), but I think AR certainly has potential.

For instance, just imagine wearing a set of AR goggles while <working on your car/building some furniture/whatever> and having an exploded parts diagram available at your beck and call in relation to the physical item in front of you, with assembly/disassembly steps shown should you so desire.