if you call 1919 a recent innovation - VVT first appeared in ICE then, and made a resurgence in 1958 and again in the 1990's. electric superchargers have been around for a while as well, though not as prevalent due to the energy requirements. changes in the car electrical systems themselves have been allowing those to move forward, not innovation per se.

Both have been overtaken by events. They're not going to show up in many mainstream cars before ICE becomes obsolete. But TVVT might be very useful in applications where electric motors won't yet work. ICE airplanes, for example.