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The technology has been developed by researchers in Germany, who have created a new approach to using virtual reality on devices by outsourcing all the heavy number crunching required by computer animations and virtual reality simulations to servers.

The servers then provide the information either as stream, such as an avi or motion JPEG file, or as vector-based data displayable as 3D on mobile devices.

The virtual reality data sent by the server to the mobile phone can be visualised

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on the phone's screen, or on external display devices, such as a stereoscopic two-video projector system or a head-mounted stereoscopic display.

"Since the processing power of mobile phones, smart phones and personal digital assistants is increasing - along with expansion in transmission bandwidth - it occurred to us that it is possible to harness this power to create 3D virtual reality," said Dan Curticapean of Offenburg's University of Applied Science.

"So we designed a system to optimise and send the virtual reality data to the mobile phone or other mobile device."

This new approach improves realistic 3D presentation, enhanced user ability to visualise and interact with 3D objects and easier presentation of complex 3D objects, claimed the researchers.

"Perhaps most important is the prospect of using mobile devices such as cell phones as a user interface to communicate more data with more people as an important component of mobile-Learning, given the ubiquity of mobile devices, particularly in developing countries," said Curticapean.