Non-round chainrings have been around for the safety bicycles since the safety-bicycle was patented. They've never really caught on in all that time in spite of a dozen major iterations at least each claiming to have "solved" the one thing stopping them from working.

Then again, like chiropractic, and acupuncture, and alkalinized water, and kinesio-tape .....there are believers out there who swear up and down.