I can't figure out what missing when I see this as amazing yet I never heard of it before today.
This was all over the science magazines back in the 70s including plans for Nitinol motors, eyeglass frames that I saw on the market a while back, etc. So the information has not been hidden, just passed by and forgotten like so much other research like friction space heaters, electrostatic cooling, etc.
Rex Research had a bunch of information compiled on it as well.