Old ideas put together in a new way (literally: off-the-shelf components). It's convenient how everything - rotor, control surfaces - is tucked away. And it can execute a rolling landing.

They say they had a hover/fly plane, but take-off and landings were difficult, and the spherical design was an attempt to solve it (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pF0uLnMoQZA&t=1m40s (1:40)). Although... perhaps the impressive aspects come from the R&D in the antecedent aircraft.

Hobbyists have long showed-off hovering remote-controlled model planes; the automatic control is what's really impressive, encapsulating that skill.