The fundamentals of this technique seem to be similar to blast welding, but more controlled. Blast welding is used in all sorts of high strength applications, l

The fundamentals of this technique seem to be similar to blast welding, but more controlled. Blast welding is used in all sorts of high strength applications, like vault doors. But its expensive, requires big pieces, and ends up warping the material. Material processing, specifically metals, often involves heating the metal to high heats, and then controlled cooling. The max temperate and rate of cooling and completely change a metal's properties. Pearlite in steel is the classic example. Welds basically remelt the material and negate any processing gains. If this can be cheaply replicated, and can be adapted to different configurations, it will be revolutionary. But reading the article, it requires aluminum for vaporization, and looks to only bind two flat surfaces, where one's backside is easily accessible.