True. The complete device presented as a string shooter pipe at 10:25 of the video looks like the Laddermill invented by @dougselsam (Laddermill - #73 by PierreB) then by Wubbo Ockels with some variants.
It is the first time I see it at work by driving a reel under the effect of a blower, even if it is not yet an AWES as such. It would now be useful to consider how a large natural air flow (the wind) might act on a circular ribbon, and how to work the ribbon in such a way as to facilitate its speed. By making holes? And where?
Thank you for your ideas that can work as triggers and move the stagnating AWE discipline forward. The way you put question marks in every sentence is an interesting call for collective intelligence: there will always be technicians able to develop the ideas that emerge little by little.