Google files patent for “digital wallpaper”

Google has recently been awarded a patent that will allow the company to develop walls that become huge screens displaying images in the manner of a computer’s desktop wallpaper or screen saver. 

The idea is to cover the walls with photo-reactive paint that would create an images when light is projected onto it.

The patent describes the light projections as "themes" with the painted walls changing into something similar to digital wallpaper, or a photographic slideshow. 

A smartphone or computer could be used to change the images displayed.  

According to the patent, themes could imitate things such as the weather and the natural environment, or could project live sports scores or display Halloween and Christmas themes. 

The themes could be set up so that they do not cover existing features such as pictures and shelves. 

The patent also suggests that the technology would be advanced enough to support video functionality which means a householder could possibly stream television or films across their house. 

The features seem like a natural extension of the Chromecast, a device that can stream from a mobile phone to a television much like an Apple TV. 

Google said in a statement to the Quartz website: "We hold patents on a variety of ideas – some of those ideas later mature into real products or services, some don’t. Prospective product announcements should not necessarily be inferred from our patents." 

Google has recently announced that it plans to send solar-powered drones into the sky this year as part of a long-term plan to offer universal internet access.  

Bjarke Ingels and Thomas Heatherwick are to design Google’s new Silicon Valley HQ. 

Image: Exterior of the Googleplex (Wikimedia Commons)