Electroactive 'smart' fabrics can act as switches or sensors, and can resolve other engineering problems. Electroactive fabrics can help developers to create flexible sensing systems, detect chemicals, and even generate mobile power. According to Stacey Burr, president of Textronics Inc., a smart-fabric technology developer, over 70 percent of the surfaces that humans interact with every day are textiles. If those textiles can carry data and electrical power, a new world of applications becomes possible. Electroactive smart fabrics typically use many combinations of textiles and conductive materials, and not just a single material. Manufacturers often base their smart fabrics on elastomeric fibers like Lycra, but the fabrics can also be created from a broad range of synthetic and even natural fibers. All smart fabrics require additional and extensive development before they are ready for the marketplace, and some of those that rely on nanotechnology are currently available only in quantities useful for development research. While other smart fabrics are suitable for commercial use, they are the focus of a number of technical concerns because they have not been in use for very long. Supplies of smart fabrics promote the use of their products for different types of sensing systems, but only NanoSonic Inc. can provide actual data about the fabric's performance as a sensor. The lack of basic engineering data could limit the use of such fabrics, according to industry analysts.