MIT developes fabric that can take pictures

Cloaking devices are on the way. The development of a new fibers which each can detect two frequencies of light, produced signals that when amplified and processed by a computer reproduced an image of a smiley face near the mesh.This may not sound like much, but it is suggested that the technology, if developed further, could give a soldier a uniform that would help him see threats in all directions. Further, optical fiber webs, by distributing the chore across a large area, would be less susceptible to damage in one area. Cnet.

The actual article is called "Exploiting Collective Effects of Multiple Optoelectronic Devices Integrated in a Single Fiber" and I would not recommend it as light reading, and you need a subscription to read the article anyway. But there are hundreds, if not thousands of similar investigations and articles including patent applications. The breakthrough, if it is one, seems to be not so much with optoelectronic devices but with the integration into a fiber.

It looks like technology will continue to change the fundamental way we do things for a long time to come.