The new technologies drew wide attention and excited great interest among netizens.

"It seems far more convenient. Where there is light, there is Internet signal. Even inside an aircraft, we can still connect to the Internet through the LED lights above our heads," wrote a netizen using the name LiuyunFeiwu.

Chi said the potential applications of such technology are enormous, but there is still much work to be done.

One question for Chi's research team is how large an LED light to install on the computer or mobile phone so as to support the data retrieval.

"The fundamental prerequisite for Li-Fi is a bi-directional link through a medium. It's obviously not practical to install a large light bulb on the computer," Chi said.

Another question is how to develop an applicable chip that works as a medium to send and receive data, she said.

Zhu Jie, an industry insider, who works in a telecom company, said: "Li-Fi can work as a supplement to the use of Wi-Fi, and to free the spectrum space. Compared with existing Wi-Fi technology, visible light communication is safer and causes less radiation."

"It may need quite a long time to apply to real life. The promotion of such technology may rely on the wide application in some certain fields," he added.

So far, Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Commission is organizing the city's universities and research institutes to carry out the research and application work of such technology. Ten computers with Li-Fi technology will be displayed at the 2013 Shanghai International Industry Fair next month.