Technical Possibilities of Cloud-Based Virtual Reality Implementing Software as a Service for Online Collaboration in Urban Planning

In this paper we discuss the technical possibilities of cloud-based virtual reality (cloud-based VR) computing tools for online collaboration in urban planning and design. We first create a digital asset representing our design proposal of a pedestrian bridge in Shibuya, Tokyo. A platform for cloud-based VR technology, i.e., a VR-Cloud server, is used to open the VR dataset to public collaboration over the Internet. The digital asset representing the design scheme of our pedestrian bridge includes buildings, roads, trees and street furniture for the entire urban area. The vehicles and people are designed and inputted into the virtual world of the urban area, in which they run and walk with predefined behaviour scenarios. Users share the VR world by accessing the VR-Cloud servers from remote clients, using cloud communication software to review vehicle and pedestrian crowd simulations and discuss the design concepts. Meanwhile, we compare the advantages and disadvantages of three cloud-based VR tools on their technical support for net collaboration: 1) VR-Cloud;2) Google Earth;and 3) 3DVIA.

Van der Waals epitaxy of ultrathin crystalline PbTe nanosheets with high near-infrared photoelectric response

Lead telluride(PbTe)is one of the reliable candidates for infrared(IR)optoelectronics with optimum band-gap as well as excellent photoelectric properties.Great interests had been paid on the growth and device applications with PbTe for the development of high-performance IR photodetectors especially those working in the near-infrared regime.Although a great deal of effort had been made to prepare PbTe nanostructures for miniaturized detectors,it is difficult to synthesize high-quality two-dimensional(2D)PbTe crystals due to its rock-salt non-layered structure.Herein,a facile strategy for controllable synthesis of ultrathin crystalline PbTe nanosheets by van der Waals epitaxy is reported.With an optimized growth temperature,which determines the morphology transit from triangular pyramid islands to regular square 2D planars,PbTe nanosheets in lateral size of tens of microns with thickness down to~7 nm are achieved.Meanwhile,ultrasensitive near-infrared detectors(NIRDs)based on the as-grown 2D PbTe nanosheets have been demonstrated with an ultrahigh responsivity exceeding 3,847 A/W at the wavelength of 1,550 nm under room temperature.Our approach demonstrates that 2D PbTe nanosheets have great latent capacity of developing high-performance miniaturized IR optoelectronic devices.