Finland's University of Oulu have made an announcement today saying that they are working with Nokia and Intel to develop a join research center to create software for 3D and virtual reality interfaces to be used on mobile devices.

The cutting edge software is going to be developed by 24 engineers in Oulu using the open source MeeGo operating system, launched in February of this year by Intel and Nokia. A pre release version of the OS has been with developers now since June and both companies have said that the 3D and virtual reality suite will run on a wealth of mobile devices including smartphones and tablets.

Oulu university has a well earned reputation for work on photonics, electronics and telecommunications and their research team work with an open source virtual reality platform known as realXtend.

“3D and virtual worlds have the potential to revolutionize the [mobile] user experience,” said Mika Setala, Nokia's director of strategic alliances and partnerships. “One of the earliest practical applications for the software will be to develop a virtual control panel for a mobile device to regulate heating and lighting in a real world home.”

Intel's Martin Curley, director of Intel labs in Europe said that the focus of the research will be building open source software that compliments the Intel processor range. He also hinted at the fact that the software could help create new Nokia devices running on future Intel chip architectures.

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