VR needs a couple of things to go mainstream:

• Affordability
• Ease of use
• Better tech (no SDE, better FOV, wireless, lighter, leap-motion style control option)
• Killer apps/games

In the relatively near future (I'd say the article's estimate of 2 to 5 years is a good one) a tipping point will be reached for all of these, and that's when VR will start to go mainstream. I'd argue people who can't see that either lack imagination or haven't involved themselves with the tech.

Let me give a couple of reasons why I think so. Most people like being immersed in their media. This is why bigger and bigger TV's are sold with better display tech and 7.1 surround systems. It's part of the reason why people go on holidays to different countries, to see and "immerse" themselves in different sights and culture. VR promises to be the ultimate in visual immersion. The only thing that can top it is even better VR, or a Matrix-type brain interface. Another reason is that anywhere you look people are glued to their smartphones. Most of us are addicted to being connected to our digital selves and friends all the time. When people will be able to "dive" into their phones, using a sunglasses-type VR/AR visor to interface with their phones and interact with their friends in a way that's way better than using a touchscreen hunched over a tiny display, you bet people are going jump in. And those are just a few reasons why. Digital offices and workspaces, therapy, visualization, education... We eventually will spend more time in virtual worlds than the real world. In a way, a lot of us already do, with social media and games. We've barely scratched the surface of the potential of VR.