Live Wallpaper

Abstract

Display of on-screen elements is coordinated, which includes generating a graphical wallpaper representation in a first process on a first visual layer on a display of a computing device, generating one or more graphical objects in a second process on a second visual layer of the display, wherein the second visual layer is positioned visually on top of the first visual layer, receiving user interactions with the one or more graphical objects and generating information that reflects the user interactions, and communicating the generated information to the first process.

1 . A computer-implemented method for coordinating a display of on-screen elements on a computing device, the method comprising:
 generating a graphical wallpaper representation in a first process on a first visual layer on a display of a computing device;   generating one or more graphical objects in a second process on a second visual layer of the display, wherein the second visual layer is positioned visually on top of the first visual layer;   receiving user interactions with the one or more graphical objects and generating information that reflects the user interactions; and   communicating the generated information to the first process.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein generating the graphical wallpaper representation comprises displaying a visual image that covers substantially an entirety of a display on the computing device. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the user interactions comprise dragging across the display, and changing a manner in which the graphical wallpaper representation by animating motion in the graphical wallpaper representation in a manner that simulates frictional dragging of elements of the graphical wallpaper representation. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the animating motion comprises bending one or more graphical elements in a direction of the dragging input. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the user interactions comprise moving and dropping an icon on a home screen, and further comprising changing a manner in which the graphical wallpaper representation is displayed by animating a perturbation in a surface of the graphical wallpaper representation. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the one or more graphical objects is at least partially transparent so as to permit part of the graphical wallpaper representation to show through on the display within an area defined by an outer perimeter of the at least one graphical object. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising displaying in the graphical wallpaper representation, a live image being captured in real-time by a digital camera in the computing device. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising displaying in the graphical wallpaper representation, an image representing real-time data downloaded from a remote web server over a wireless connection to the computing device. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the image representing real-time data downloaded from the remote web server comprises information from a social networking site. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the image representing real-time data downloaded from the remote web server comprises a map. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the image representing real-time data downloaded from the remote web server comprises weather information. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising receiving a user selection of an object on the second layer and opening a graphical object in a third layer that is visually in front of the second layer and that executes in a third process that differs from the first process and the second process. 
     
     
         13 . One or more tangible machine-readable storage media, having recorded and stored thereon, instructions, that when executed, perform actions that comprise:
 generating a graphical wallpaper representation in a first process on a first visual layer on a display of a computing device;   generating one or more graphical objects in a second process on a second visual layer of the display, wherein the second visual layer is positioned visually on top of the first visual layer;   receiving user interactions with the one or more graphical objects and generating information that reflects the user interactions; and   communicating the generated information to the first process.   
     
     
         14 . The tangible machine-readable storage media of  claim 13 , wherein generating the graphical wallpaper representation comprises displaying a visual image that covers substantially an entirety of a display on the computing device. 
     
     
         15 . The tangible machine-readable storage media of  claim 13 , wherein the user interactions comprise dragging across the display, and the instructions when executed change a manner in which the graphical wallpaper representation is displayed by animating motion in the graphical wallpaper representation in a manner that simulates frictional dragging of elements of the graphical wallpaper representation. 
     
     
         16 . The tangible machine-readable storage media of  claim 15 , wherein the animating motion comprises bending one or more graphical elements in a direction of the dragging input. 
     
     
         17 . The tangible machine-readable storage media of  claim 15 , wherein the user interactions comprise moving and dropping an icon on a home screen, and the instructions when executed change the manner in which the graphical wallpaper representation is displayed by animating a perturbation in a surface of the graphical wallpaper representation. 
     
     
         18 . The tangible machine-readable storage media of  claim 16 , wherein at least one of the one or more graphical objects is at least partially transparent so as to permit part of the graphical wallpaper representation to show through on the display within an area defined by an outer perimeter of the at least one graphical object. 
     
     
         19 . The tangible machine-readable storage medium of  claim 13 , further comprising instructions that when executed display in the graphical wallpaper representation, a live image being captured in real-time by a digital camera in the computing device. 
     
     
         20 . The tangible machine-readable storage medium of  claim 13 , further comprising instructions that when executed display in the graphical wallpaper representation, an image representing real-time data downloaded from a remote web server over a wireless connection to the computing device. 
     
     
         21 . The tangible machine-readable storage media of  claim 20 , wherein the image representing real-time data downloaded from the remote web server comprises information from a social networking site. 
     
     
         22 . The tangible machine-readable storage media of  claim 20 , wherein the image representing real-time data downloaded from the remote web server comprises a map. 
     
     
         23 . The tangible machine-readable storage media of  claim 13 , further comprising instructions that when executed receive a user selection of an object on the second layer and opening a graphical object in a third layer that is visually in front of the second layer and that executes in a third process that differs from the first process and the second process. 
     
     
         24 . A computer-implemented system, comprising:
 a first object for generating a graphical representation of a background wallpaper for a home screen of a computing device, the first object including executable content that when executed, causes the first object to react to inputs from a user of the device;   one or more user selectable second objects; and   a display controller programmed to generate a graphical display of the first object in a first execution process and on a first visual layer of a display of the computing device, and to generate a graphical display of the one or more user selectable second objects in a second execution process that is distinct from the first execution process, and on a second visual layer of the display that is visually in front of the first visual layer of the display.   
     
     
         25 . The system of  claim 24 , wherein the one or more selectable objects are programmed to generate a message to the first object to provide information indicative of user interactions with the one or more selectable objects. 
     
     
         26 . The system of  claim 25 , wherein the message comprises information indicative of a location on the display at which the user interacts with the one or more selectable objects. 
     
     
         27 . The system of  claim 26 , wherein the first object is programmed to produce an animated sequence coordinated with the user selection, at or near the location on the display. 
     
     
         28 . A computer-implemented method for coordinating a display of on-screen elements on a computing device, the method comprising:
 generating a graphical wallpaper representation in a first environment on a first visual layer on a display of a computing device;   generating one or more graphical objects in a second environment on a second visual layer of the display, wherein the second visual layer is positioned visually on top of the first visual layer;   receiving information from another computing device and communicating the received information to the first environment; and   changing a displayed appearance of the graphical wallpaper representation in the first environment on the first visual layer using the received information.   
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein a virtual machine isolates a code segment associated with an object of the wallpaper in the first environment and code segments associated with the one or more graphical objects in the second environment. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein a code segment executing in the first environment is sandboxed from code segments executing in the second environment.