IMAGINE raunchy robotic undies which allow long-distance lovers to 'touch' each other via the internet.

Sydney-based tech firm Snepo have built the Fundawear garments, which contain small vibrating and pulsating actuators that can be remotely controlled via a mobile phone app.

The idea is to allow couples separated by distance to remotely stimulate each other - and the garments have quickly gained worldwide attention.

"After the laughter had stopped, we knew it was going to be an awesome project," said Snepo owner and director Ben Moir in a video posted online about the product.

"Fundawear is a project about transferring touch over vast distances.

"That's really a first, globally."

A team of three engineers and a number of fashion designers have been working on the undies in Sydney since January.

They were developed for condom maker Durex Australia and the company has posted a video online showing an Australian couple trialling them, while talking over a Skype-type service.

Billie Whitehouse, an Australian fashion designer who worked on the project insists the garments are comfortable, despite the electronic gadgets inside.

"Everyone's who's tried them on has said how comfortable they are, how good they feel in them. They are an attractive piece of technology," she added.

The undies are still at the experimental stage and Durex has not yet decided whether to make them widely available.

But a source close to the project said they were an entirely viable product for the mass market.

According to the firm's Fundawear Facebook page, couples can volunteer to become involved in further trials.

Originally published as Aussies develop sexy robotic undies