no kidding. it was the last demo in the video, but my first reaction seeing the zippers-instead-tent-poles demo was, "oh, that's going to be huge." weight and "how well does it handle wind?" are concerns, but i could totally see "100% zipper" tents on the market by the end of the year.
It's definitely pretty whiz bang but I'm curious how it would hold up to the dirt and grime of a backpacking trip. I'm also not convinced it is any better or lighter than poles (which can be pretty light with the right materials...)
The video showed well over a minute of manual setup time! Most dome tents of a comparable size can be set up in less time than that. Elastic cords help pull the poles together, you put the ends into the grommets and clip the tent body on.
They never show the fully packaged version of the tent, though. It looks like even in their non-rigid state they're too rigid to be folded up easily and carelessly into a compact shape.