Android Launcher Issues

I am having trouble getting started on this and could use a little nudge to know where to look.

I want to program an App that can act like a launcher (Android front end) that can be run through a Unity 3D environment.

It can either be a launcher or just an app to run like it is a launcher but I have a few questions if anyone knows the best solutions to look at for them?

1/
I want it to be able to list the installed apps and access the front wall settings (favourite apps) in a unity environment (so for example if I wanted to display the apps on their own cubes in space instead of the current 2D tiles)

2/
I want to be able to run Widgets (so in the 3D world it can take a current Android widget and run it on a billboard in a 3D space)


So would anyone be able to suggest my best route. As mentioned if it can be just an app that mimics a Launcher then great or if it needs to be an actual Launcher to be able to access things like the installed apps menu then so be it.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

 

You can use Eclipse instead of Unity, easier.. And can use AOSP Launcher as framework.
In Unity3d, to create a launcher, just add this to main <activity> tag in manifest :