Technology

Or is this a situation where you need at modern manufacturing facility to produce one?

Probably the second one:

The team also shaped the hydrogel into a dome-like origami array, like a sheet of bubble wrap. The unique structure increased surface area and maximized how much the material could swell so it would hold more water vapor. The team then sandwiched the gel between two glass panels roughly the size of a small window, both coated with a cooling chemical layer, and added tubing to collect the water.

Assuming I'm wrong, you'd still need a ton of those for a single person. They got approximately 5.5oz in one night from one panel in death valley, but a quick Google says you need about 32oz per hour in high heat. You'd need just under 6 panels/person/hour you need water, which takes away from the idea that this is portable or really usable for hiking when you'd need like 80+ of these things to get anywhere close to having enough water for one day.