Have you tried turning it off and on again?

Lower part of the image is incorrect. All the data would pool in the trough, leaving free space at either end.

Automounts as drive V:\

I'm assuming this is actually to render an old drive inoperable, in case of sensitive contents?

Just spit balling, but it might be possible to flatten the platters out to recover some of the data, maybe even enough to piece together what was on there. The proper method for destruction is to wipe the drives, then shred them.
- The proper method for destruction is to wipe the drives, then shred them.
  Yes for spinny drives.
  For SSDs, when you delete something TRIM + physics ensures it's really really gone all the time
  Please stop shredding SSDs that can go on to a 2nd life...
- Aren't the discs made from a material that shatters like glass?
Correct, and it uses magnets to render the disks unreadable. One of those devices services https://at-rack.co.uk/ LTT using it https://youtu.be/4dR5lbF5-wo
Yes.
Although disks are also legitimately shredded.
It makes the most awful sound.
Trust me, that data is very definitely not destroyed.
(See this talk for some entertaining data disposal techniques :)
- Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
  this talk
  Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
  I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.

VRAM?

I'm just sitting here wondering how tf they did this....

Did they put it in a bending brake?

They obviously installed it in a laptop and closed the lid before they were finished.
It's a machine designed to destroy hard drives. They use a hydraulic ram to bend it and shatter the platters.
- Which is overkill when you can get the same result by just drilling a hole into the drive.