1. “National Conference on, Modeling, Optimization and Control, 4th
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Abstract—
Wallpapers came into existence with small paintings on
household walls. As time progressed, with the invention of the
computers, the wallpapers changed their definition from
household ‘wall’ papers and painting to desktop background.
Today the wallpaper is the first ‘reaction’ the user gets
from a computer, the first response from the machine.
Subtly, the wallpaper affects the mood and mindset of the
user. A literature survey was done to arrive and study the
previous work done regarding wallpapers. We studied and
surveyed volunteers in the research to determine what are the
factors users keep in mind while selecting an image as
wallpaper. A questionnaire with most relevant questions and
optimal number of questions was prepared, which was filled in
by the volunteers. The characteristics were inferred from the
questionnaire and a flowchart was prepared which depicted
the methodologies used and the strategies used to select
wallpapers. Deriving a common categorization, we
proposed an ideal model for selection of wallpaper for the
user on Google Glass. The source of retrieval of images to be
set as wallpaper, the interaction between Glass, mobile and
internet was proposed and the User Interaction flow was
stipulated.
Index Terms— Google Glass Wallpaper, Wallpaper Strategies,
User Interaction
I. INTRODUCTION
he concept of Wallpaper first emerged in the medieval
ages. Humans started decorating walls of houses and
eateries with texture papers and/or color papers. Eventually,
this trend became popular and made the houses look pleasant.
This ultimately lead to the coinage and official recognition of
the new term: Wallpaper with a formal definition as ‘paper
that is pasted in vertical strips over the walls of a room to
provide a decorative surface’ in the late 18th Century. [1]
T
As technology emerged, user-friendly computers and
desktops came into existence. There was one particular aspect
common to them; the viewing screen during boot-up or while
waiting for instructions (when idle) would be totally black,
this gave a very damp feeling and in-fact was also the reason
for rejection of the Multics system which later-on was
transformed into Unix Operating system. [2] This anomaly
was noticed and the X Window System was one of the

earliest systems to include support for an arbitrary image as
wallpaper. Soon almost all desktop computers started using
‘wallpaper’ as their background.
Users started putting images they preferred as their
background, this benefitted the Computer Companies as it
increased user satisfaction and experience. With the advent
of Mobile phones, the small though highly usable devices
increased the necessity of focus on the User Experience
and satisfaction. The concept of wallpaper as a background
for a device was once again used fruitfully to enhance the User
Interface. Mobile phones used images similar to desktop
images, although with small dimensions, for their users. Apart
from development in computer wallpapers, wallpapers to
enhance the structural life of a building, using Glass fibers
have now come into being, so as to safeguard houses in case
of calamity such as Earthquakes. [3]
As the development in wallpapers for computer use moves
forward, moving wallpapers, which are termed, as ‘Live
Wallpapers’ are now available for users and they provide a
much better User Interface than the staple image wallpapers.
Wallpapers subconsciously affect the mindset of the user
towards the electronic devices, as inferred; if a device has a
blank screen and no User Interface, the user’s mind would
subconsciously contempt that device whereas if the device
would have an appealing wallpaper giving an option to user to
set the image as per user’s convenience, the user would
subconsciously tend to get inclined towards it. Latest devices
such as Google Glass, Interactive Watches have set a new
level of user experience, giving utmost importance to users
and their preferences.
Contributing to such a scenario and time where user
experience has a value more than ever seen, we aim to deduce
the methodologies used by users while selecting wallpaper,
and present a model for selection and setting of wallpaper on
Google Glass, so as to help and suggest the users on their
choices through the methodologies derived in this paper. In
this paper, we study the factors, which influence the choice
user’s make while selecting wallpaper, the underlying
methodologies used by them through a questionnaire given to
a set of volunteers. We have used Google Glass, which is a
product from Google Inc. Google Glass is a wearable
electronic device, with an optical hand-mounted display
(OHMD), having most of the features of a smartphone. [4]
It has a similarity to spectacles, but with a microcomputer
inside it. Questions such as, what affects the mindset of the
users while selecting wallpapers? How can users be provided
with better User Experience? Questions such as, what affects
the mindset of the users while selecting wallpapers? How can
User Survey and Proposed Model on Google
Glass Wallpaper
Pratik Renuse Divyesh Patel Gaurav Taywade
Research Scholar Research Scholar Chief software Architect
VIT, Pune, India VIT, Pune, India OAB Studious, New York, Pune
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users be provided with better User Experience?
II.LITERATURE SURVEY
A Research Paper titled “Live Wallpaper” by Dianne K. Hackborn,
Santa Clara, CA(US); Michael A. Cleron, Menlo Park, CA(US);
Romain P. Guy, San Francisco, CA (US); Joseph M. Onorato,
Cambridge, MA (US) cited by Chinnathambi, Kirupa. Grassy Field:
Concept Study, Aug. 31 2008 ; Mirosoft Support, How to Configure
the Active Desktop, January 20, 2007 proposes 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 the display device, then generating one or more graphical
objects in a second process on a second visual layer of the display,
wherein the second visual layer of the display is positioned visually
on top of the first layer, receiving user interactions with the one or
more graphical objects and generating information that reflects the
user interaction. The authors give a detailed Graphical User Interface
of their proposed Live Wallpaper method.
The authors devise the method wherein animating motion
comprises bending one or more graphical elements in a direction
of the dragging input. The image representing real time data
downloaded from a remote web server comprises information about
weather, location and social networking sites linked.
The authors propose one or more tangible machine-readable storage
media to record and store instructions, which when executed later on
perform the primary tasks.
Hackborn, Cleron, Romain and Onorato (2005) included a computer-
implemented system comprising an object for graphical
representation of background wallpaper for home screen of a
computing device, the object including executable content which
when executed causes the object to react to inputs from a user of the
device. The system also comprised a display controller
programmed to generate a graphical display of the object in a
first execution process and on a first visual layer of display of the
computing device and to generate another graphical display of one or
more user selected objects in a second execution process that is
distinct from the first execution process.
Animating the perturbation may include animating motion that
radiates out, on the graphical Wallpaper representation, from a
location at which the icon was dropped. At least one of the one or
more graphical objects may be 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. The method may also include
displaying in the graphical Wallpaper representation, a live image
being captured in real-time by a digital camera in the computing
device, or an image representing real-time data downloaded from a
remote Web server over a Wireless connection to the computing
device. This may also include 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.
By detailing the User Interface and methodologies used to display
live wallpaper using the concept of first object and one or more
second object, including first visual layer encompassing second
visual layer the paper by Hackborn, Cleron, Romain and Onorato
(2005) proposes a computer implanted method and a tangible storage
medium method for usage of Live Wallpaper.
Table 1. Drawbacks of contemporary devices
III. METHODOLOGY
A.Data Collection
The first step conducted was a user survey. A questionnaire
designed with specific questions, which could help infer the
strategies and methods used by users either knowingly or
unknowingly was given to each of the sample size of 30
volunteers. The volunteers were selected to accommodate a
range of demography, age, profession and education. The ages
of the volunteers ranged from 20 to 50 years. 16 volunteers
were aged between 20 years to 30 years. 3 were between 40 to
50 years. 11 volunteers from the sample were aged between 30
to 40. The range of the professions of the volunteers
included Software Engineers, Teachers, Homemakers,
Students, Manager, Disk Jockey (DJ), Army Officer,
Doctor and Bartender. The sample size was divided on the
basis of gender; there were 18 male volunteers and 12 female
volunteers.
The procedure for the survey was elaborated to the volunteers.
Each was given the questionnaire to be filled with honest
answers. Once the filled questionnaires were collected, the
common aspects were grouped together so as to infer and
derive the methodologies used to select wallpaper.
The primary instrument used for data collection was the
questionnaire and a personal computer or laptop of each
volunteer. A flowchart depicting the possible methodologies
was prepared upon successful collection of all the data from
volunteers and deriving an inference from it.
Drawbacks
Possible cause(s)
of Error
Proposed Model
Visual Selection
from predefined
source by
product
manufacturer
Economization
and mass-
production may
have made it
difficult to
increase
personalization.
Computer, based on
previous searches, will
download visual from
time to time
automatically.
Cumbersome and
time consuming
selection and
setting
procedure.
Lack of
development in
speech
recognition
technologies.
Incorporate the inbuilt
feature of Google Glass
and enable selection of
visuals by speaking
rather than typing.
Randomized
storage and fewer
backups.
Expense of user
storage and easy
availability of
portable memory
sticks.
Visuals are proposed to
be stored on cloud and
in a personal album,
clustering the visuals
having common
characteristics.
Complicated
User Interface
and too many
options.
Providing
unnecessary add-
ons, which the
users rarely use.
At most option in Glass
would be to scroll
through the visual, rest
is handled by speech
recognition.
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B.Finding Patterns
Based on the data collected from the volunteers in the initial phase,
the common methodologies were grouped together so as to facilitate
Fig.1 Questionnaire for Volunteers
the model generation. The 30 volunteers were each given the
questionnaire and told to fill in answers. The first question aims to
find the roots of connection and intuition of the volunteer towards
a visual, whether a specific memory attached to it, something that the
volunteer would like to see every time. Most of the volunteers had
different answers, 3 volunteers had the same answer: Mountains, 2
volunteers had the same answer Golden Gate Bridge. Other
volunteers had various answers such as brother, friend’s get-together,
family, and a beautiful memory from past etc. The answer to the
second was positive for 24 volunteers, 6 of them changed their
mindset and selected another visual. The 2 volunteers who selected
Mountains answered the same in the third question too, that they
loved open and rugged spaces, thus depicting that places affect the
choices of visuals and should be considered in the model. The
volunteers who selected someone from family or the complete
family, answered that they were emotionally very attached to their
family and 50% of them lived away from their family, missing them,
thus the first visual that came to their mind was that of family. The
next question was asked because colors depict the type of personality,
and to enhance the User Experience of an electronic device, it is a
must to study the various personality traits. Almost all the
volunteers gave two or more colors as answer, with the most
answering bright colors such as red, pink, yellow which signifies a
need for something interesting to happen in their lives, when asked
why they didn’t select dark colors? The answer they gave matched
with the personality traits of the bright colors, that the darker colors
gave them a feeling of remorse, monotonous and dullness. Places
were all positive and none of the volunteers suggested they liked a
congested, and shabby place. Some answered their homes as their
ideal places. The next question asked in the questionnaire was about
family. As family plays an important role in a person’s growth, it was
empirical to know the person’s background during this cognition. The
volunteers were mostly bachelors, 22 to be precise, and of the total
volunteers, 17 stayed away from family. Staying away from family, 6
of them had the first visual of family members, indicating their
mindset and underlying strategy while selecting visual for wallpaper.
After inferring from family and background, the volunteers were
asked about the personality who inspires them, whom they idolize, 3
of them answered none, 7 answered one of the two parents, 5
answered Steve jobs, 2 answered God. 2 of the volunteers had initial
visual of their idol. They were asked about God and religion, initially,
1 of the volunteer had answered the first visual coming to the mind
was that of God. 25 volunteers answered this question as yes, they
did believe in god. This suggests God or religion also plays an
important factor in user perception during selection of a visual. The
last question was the question unanimously answered by 29 of the
volunteers, they did either watch or play some kind of sport. 1 of the
volunteer had the first visual in mind that of his favorite sportsperson.
They suggested that during major tournaments or World Cups, sports
vastly influence the perception of the volunteers and their selection of
visuals. These strategies and intuitions inferred from volunteers were
validated from them and cross-examined.
C.Inference
The cognition inferred that volunteers decide on the visual by
personality types as shown in Fig. 1. Based on famous people like
Steve Jobs, Barack Obama or based on people who are inspire them
such as Mother Teresa, Mahatma Gandhi or based on fictional
characters such as young volunteers put up visual of Harry Potter.
Broadly classifying the data collected from the volunteers, those who
put wallpapers of someone near to them or themselves can be
classified into profile, which can be further segregated into
Family, visuals relating to family members or the complete family;
Friends, most of the teenage volunteers put up visuals of themselves
with friends or while Partying with friends; Good Memories relates to
those visuals of Volunteers in their lifetimes, which remind them of
some warm and beautiful memories, this was observed in 40% of the
volunteers. Volunteers also put up visuals of places they have
travelled or wished to travel. Religion plays an important part in
people’s life, 2 volunteers selected visuals relating to their religion,
thus inferring that Religion could be one of the properties used while
selecting visual. The data collected inferred that Image quality
and File Format are also factors that affected the volunteer’s
perception towards wallpaper selection. Mood, which involved
happiness, depression or anxiety, were also the factors most
persistent among those setting visuals. Interests, which denote the
liking of volunteers affected the perception while selection of visuals,
these include Music, Places and Sports. The Volunteers who had
selected the visuals related to sports had an inclination towards it.
Volunteers also selected places they visited or wished to visit, thus it
could be inferred that these factors affect the sub-conscious strategy
used by them to select the visuals.
IV. PROPOSED MODEL
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Fig. 2 Categorization of the Methodologies
A model is proposed to create an ideal visual application,
which would set wallpaper on Google Glass to give the
optimum User Experience. Google Glass is a technology,
inclusive product of Google, which works similar to a smart
phone, except it is completely hands-free and works on voice
commands. Glass is a wearable device and it is compatible
with an android phone.
A.Retrieval of imagesz
The Data, specifically the images for the application are
proposed to be retrieved either by storage medium in the
device or via Internet access as shown in Fig. 2. The storage
medium would enable the user to select from previously stored
visuals. The application would periodically store images in the
memory based on the user’s interests, likes and searches. The
related images should be organized into clusters, which the
application would achieve by selecting an efficient clustering
algorithm. Each cluster would have its independent
number of images, which would be periodically updated or
removed from the cluster by the application engine. The
storage medium would also facilitate dynamic or fast visual
access, which is highly essential to provide a highly
satisfactory Experience to the User. The other medium to
retrieve data requested by the user, which would inherently be
used by the updating algorithm, to update the visuals stored
in the storage medium, is the Internet medium. The model
expects a high speed Internet to facilitate the expected
enhancement of User Experience from any device. The engine
of the application processes the user request, if the requested
visual isn’t available in the storage medium, it would
automatically search for it on the Internet. If the user requests
a visual, specifically from the Internet, e.g. while surfing the
Internet, the engine would make an entry of that request after
it is completed, so that in future if any similar entry is
requested by the user, it is retrieved as quickly as possible.
The Internet medium engine would also periodically provide
suggestions to the user, if the visual hasn’t been replaced for
an amount of time.
B.Connectivity and Access
The model aims to maximize the connectivity between the
device and other devices, along with the Internet. The Internet
connectivity is provided in-built by the Glass and the
application engine is to make full use of this facility. The
connectivity between Glass and other devices such as Android
Smartphone can be made possible with the use of Bluetooth
Connectivity, via which visuals can be sent over to the device.
The device uses this feature in its parent application, named
‘MyGlass’ by the product-development Company, to
communicate with its interlinked Android Device and acts as
the controller of the Glass. The connectivity for other devices
is also recommended via Bluetooth, as it would provide a
faster connectivity and access. The users via voice-enabled
commands can access the visuals on the device, along with the
physical sensors on the device.
Fig. 4 Retrieval of images for wallpaper
C.User Interface
The User Interface in the model is designed to be as simple
and efficient as possible. The User would decide on the visual,
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select it from one of the many sources available, as described
in section Retrieval of Images, then decide on the opacity of
the visual via simple slider of the glass or voice command
‘select visual opacity’ and select the level preferred. All of the
Interactions of the User are meant to be hands-free and
hassle-free, so as to achieve the User Experience
enhancement. The user, according to the proposed model,
should be able to view only the visual and a small asterisk or a
desired minuscule symbol on the upper-left portion of the
visual, meant for setting or a reminder. The visuals while
selection would appear in a tapestry manner, which would be
controlled by the user. The selection process should involve an
easy ‘select visual’ command or a tap on the device. The
complete UI flow is depicted in Fig. 3. The User requests for
a visual to the application engine, the Glass syncs request
with the Mirror API, the request is forwarded to the
application software of Glass, it in turn fetches the visual from
either of the many sources, it returns the visual to the API,
which forwards to the Glass to sync it, displaying it to the
User.
V. SPECIFICATIONS
The Model produced through the cognition and study of
volunteers based on selection of visuals, aims to maximize
the User Experience on the device. The primitive feature of
the application would be to efficiently as quickly process user
request, search for the visual, provide it to the user, all this via
voice commands. The model also proposes a feature of
Multiple Glass Interconnectivity, which would enable
multiple devices, in each other’s peripheral to interconnect and
simultaneously display visuals in a tapestry or slideshow
format, enabling multiple users to individually view the same
visuals at the same time but at their own convenience and
hassle-free.
The model proposes a feature, which would enable users to
view visuals while listening to music on their device,
automatically. These visuals would be related to the genre of
the music being played, and if the user requests further visuals
relating to the song or music, the application engine, displays
the visual in the real-time form of latest first. The user has an
enhanced experience while listening to music, thus
increasing the user satisfaction. Users get feature of selecting
the level of ‘translucent visual’ they desire and if they wish the
visuals to automatically change as per the weather of their
current location or the time of the day. These features along
with add-on of visual editing, where the user can select the
contrast, opacity, brightness of the visual; in the proposed
model, enhance the user experience as desired by the users.
The system or Glass will automatically fetch the images
from the Internet if they aren’t present in the local storage
of either the Glass or Android Phone
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Fig. 5 User Interaction Flow
VI. CONCLUSION
Until recently, there has been less research regarding
digital wallpapers and how they affect the user perception.
In our study, we found out the various strategies or techniques
used by users while selecting wallpaper, the underlying
reasons for the same and then classified the various methods
into categories. A model was proposed, which would be the
optimal model for selecting wallpaper based on the user.
The data collected from the volunteers was used to draft this
model. A User Interaction flow was also proposed for the
Google Glass device. Google’s Glass was selected as the
primary device for the proposed model as the device is the
pinnacle of new technology. Future work in development of
the proposed model into an application for the glass can be
carried out. Once a full-fledged application, more study on the
usage and interaction of users, including their patterns can be
carried out.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
We would like to thank Prof. G. D. Bhutkar from VIT, Pune
for his constant support, encouragement and guidance in this
research work. We would also like to thank Prof Karthick,
HOD Computer Department, VIT Pune for letting us complete
the work amidst the campus equipment and labs. We also
appreciate and are grateful to Dr. R. M. Jalnekar, Director of
VIT Pune. At last, we appreciate the involvement of all
volunteers and thank them for their time, which enabled us to
successfully complete the research.
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March 2015, NCMOC – 2015”
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