wifog – a wifi seeing camera

The wifog is a camera that enables a view into a parallel universe: wifi networks.

Upon pressing the shutter, the camera scans for surrounding networks and renders their names as a fog layer into the camera picture. Far distant signals will appear blurry in the background while strong signals appear close and clear, thus opening up an interesting new perspective on our environment.

The device is thought as a reminder of the hidden consequences of our increasingly technological lifes, where wireless data transfer assumes an invaluable role but at the same time pollutes our environment with electro-magnetical waves. Whether this pollution is affecting us or not, the wifog hints to the fact that technology produces environmental change that is not limited to things that are tangible by trying to display images where these hidden layers suddenly become visible.

The project was part of an university course held by Sebastian Schmieg and built from scratch using a 3D printed case, a Raspberry Pi, wifi shield, touch display and a camera.

Make sure to check out the attachments :)