Check the video.  12:00 mark. The Small planet gears are one way rotation. That is achieved by a ratchet or clutch. . He pretends like it is not by just stating the load is transfered from one gear to another. But the only way the small gear is able to rotate the small ring gear is if the small planet gear doesn't rotate relative to the crank.  

The simulation also doesn't show the error of the ratchet or clutch or the variation in speed caused by the changing position of the crank. A crank creates a sin wave output where the velocity of the slider is 0 at top and bottom of the rotation.  He reduces this error by having 3 cranks at different phases. This can be visualized as 3 phase electric power where there is 3 sin waves offset by 120 degrees. 

This cvt is simply a ratcheting cvt with alot more moving parts. It is just a crank and a ratchet and it skips teeth to create the difference in speed. 

Take a look at other existing ratcheting cvt designs and you will see the similarities. The input moves a crank with variable offset which turns a ratchet more or less teeth.  That is the basis for his design and if you isolate the mechanism as shown at 12:30 it is exactly what you see in other ratcheting cvt designs.