A tech demo is a tech demo, it shows what is possible, not what is necessarily feasible to market to the big public as a new UI metaphor. Often it takes a long time to perfect something. So no need to be negative. Don't confuse it with a commercial of something that is actually brought to market.
I agree concerning it just being a tech demo. On the other hand, with the tech I've watched, and that I've been involved with, the market application is fairly close to the academic conception. Figuring out a feasible use case often comes a long time after the commercial introduction, if ever.
I get the feeling in certain cases, it's technology in search of a problem. That's ok (and even necessary) as long as I don't have to put up with it shoehorned in places it doesn't really fit.
in academic research that's the rule rather than the exception. The nature of research makes it very hard, even impossible, to predict what is going to have applications in the future and what those will be. To name an example, touch screens were also written off as an (awkward) curiosity for decades.
I agree with the "I hope it isn't forced on me", but that's a wholly different discussion. That's a common theme with technology: in the beginning you can choose and it all seems great, later on you're considered odd if you opt out because "everyone is using it". But that's not the fault of the researchers or of the technology, but of the way society handles it.
