Went to NASA's site after I posted this. Found out it was actually 1983-86 time-frame, not the 90s, so the concept is 30 years old+. The site doesn't have much else, though....no results, or even where it went when they were done with it (they have histories on many of the others, such as the F-8 re-winged with a supercritical airfoil).

Many intriguing ideas have come and gone. Some concepts, while great from an aerodynamic perspective, were proven impractical when manufacturing cost, reliability, and maintenance are included. Variable wing-sweep is a classic illustration: all the rage in the 60s and 70s; now no one is doing it. I've been told that the winglets on the 747-400 save gas, but the increased maintenance they cause equals or exceeds the cost of the fuel savings!!

I suspect these types of high-lift devices are slightly better from a L/D perspective....but not by much. As such, I think their cost still outweighs their benefits.

"Forward thinking" companies are generally not seeking to be gregarious benefactors of aeronautical mankind. They innovate when they can make money from it. Bendable skins for "smart" leading and trailing edges will become commonplace when it is cheaper to have them on an airliner than when it is not.

And some company will be there, outsourcing the engineering to India, and the manufacturing to China, to make them.