Introduction: SignalScape: Making Invisible Wi-Fi Signals Visible With Dynamic Art.

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About: Hello reader. My name is Steve and I live in the south east of England, U.K, and I have been a hobbyist for as long as I can remember. I've been making & tinkering with things ever since I was a kid, and many …

The Project:

Welcome dear reader.

This is SignalScape, which shows Wi-Fi strength as a changing landscape. At first glance, it appears to be a piece of ambient digital art, animated landscapes and cityscapes floating softly on glass. But beneath the surface, it makes the invisible, visible.

The displayed images are animated GIFs (or static images, if preferred) that change colour in real time to reflect Wi-Fi signal strength from your network. Using the Android app Total Launcher, the tablet reads the current Wi-Fi signal and switches between identical images rendered in different colours:

  1. Blue – 100% signal
  2. Green – 75% signal
  3. Orange – 50% signal
  4. Yellow – 25% signal
  5. Red – 0% / no signal

The result is a living artwork that subtly responds to your network conditions, technical information disguised as décor. No programming, no coding, no soldering, and no 3D printing are required. Just clever use of visuals, reflection, and off the shelf tools. SignalScape removes the need to check hidden menus or tiny status bars on individual devices. Instead of hunting for signal icons, if they exist at all (smart plugs, light bulbs etc.), it provides an always-visible, at-a-glance understanding of network health in the space itself.

By turning Wi-Fi strength into ambient visual feedback, SignalScape makes weak coverage obvious before devices fail or disconnect, something a small on-screen indicator can’t do until it’s already too late. Subtle, continuous awareness beats reactive troubleshooting every time.

The attached demo/making video I made, is to accompany this Instructable and includes myself walking down my driveway, away from my Wi-Fi hub/router to demonstrate the signal drop and changing images that show this. This is a prototype for now, and I will look into refining the frame design using thicker acrylic, with curved corners, flame polished edges, maybe edge lit, and possibly encase the tablet to hide it in transparency mode. I will also look into improving my artwork, using less detailing and make better use of colouring.

The Inspiration:

Wi-Fi is everywhere, yet we never see it. It flows through walls, fills rooms, and connects devices silently, only noticed when it fails. SignalScape was inspired by the idea that modern infrastructure has its own hidden landscapes: invisible fields, strengths, and dead zones that shape our daily experience without ever really being acknowledged.

Rather than presenting this information as numbers or bars, SignalScape translates it into scenery calm skies, glowing cities, abstract horizons. As the signal changes, the environment changes with it, turning something purely functional into something expressive and personal.

As for the name, 'Signal' is in reference to reading and displaying the strength of your Wi-Fi network, and 'Scape' refers to the images... cityscapes, landscapes etc.

The Making:

SignalScape is built around a clear acrylic display stand designed to create a Pepper’s Ghost style illusion. An Android tablet rests flat at the top of the frame, facing downward. Its screen reflects onto an angled sheet of clear acrylic, which acts as a transparent display surface, making the image appear to float in space.

In brighter rooms, the tablet can simply be placed directly against the angled acrylic, allowing the screen to be viewed normally for improved visibility, no reconfiguration required.

The frame itself is made from a sheet of inexpensive acrylic, cut with a jigsaw and assembled using a glue gun. The tablet can be a cheap model or even a reused, older device. The visuals are created using a PC paint program as still images or animated GIFs, landscapes, cityscapes, or abstract scenes, then duplicated into five colour matched versions to correspond with signal strength. And don't worry if drawing artwork is not you thing as there are options to help with this.

Images can be animated using free web apps to generate GIFs, or left static as PNGs or JPEGs if preferred. With a handful of basic tools, a recycled tablet, and freely available software, SignalScape comes together as a clean, elegant object that blurs the line between art and information.

Subtle. Functional. And quietly watching the air around you.

Supplies

Meterials:

  1. 3mm Clear acrylic sheet
  2. Glass door pivot hinges (1 Pair)
  3. An Android tablet (new, used) Use a disused one stashed away in a draw, or check your local freebie websites for people giving old, unwanted tablets away... better than them ending up in landfill.

Tools:

  1. Jigsaw with a fine toothed blade for cutting acrylic
  2. Hot glue gun with good quality glue sticks (or an acrylic adhesive)
  3. Drill with Stepper drill bit (for drilling acrylic)
  4. Masking tape if the acrylic you have does not have the protective sheet on
  5. Pen/pencil
  6. Ruler
  7. Sanding block or fine grit sandpaper

Apps/Programs:

  1. Total Launcher Android app This app allows you to create custom launchers/home screens on your Android device, but used as a stand alone app, it has some great features you can play around with, perfect for this project.
  2. A paint program/app like MS paint or Paint.net (something that can make transparent PNGs is better for animated/GIF images)
  3. Adobe Express (free online version). You want the 'animate an image' option.

List of Steps:

  1. Step 1: Design
  2. Step 2: Making the Display Frame
  3. Step 3: Drawing The Pictures
  4. Step 4: Animating the Pictures
  5. Step 5: Setting Up Total Launcher
  6. Step 6: Setting Up the Dynamic Wi-Fi Status Pictures
  7. Step 7: Tablet Vs Transparency Modes
  8. Step 8: Conclusion

Step 1: Design

SignalScape is designed to sit comfortably in modern spaces. It’s compact enough not to dominate a desk or shelf, yet large enough to be clearly visible from across a room. The proportions are deliberate: present, but never intrusive. I have used an 8" tablet for this, but you can use a larger 10" or 11" if you like, but you will need to factor in for a larger display frame to accommodate the larger tablet.

The structure is made entirely from clear acrylic, giving it a clean, minimal, and contemporary look. While visually light, the material choice keeps the frame strong and sturdy, allowing it to support the tablet securely without flex or distraction. The transparency helps the display blend into its surroundings, letting the artwork and the illusion take centre stage.

The frame consists of:

  1. Two side panels
  2. A top panel to support the tablet
  3. A bottom supporting panel
  4. An adjustable screen panel set at an angle to act as the transparent display surface

The entire design is intended to be displayed in landscape orientation, which works particularly well for cityscapes, horizons, and wide environmental imagery.

Image Design Considerations:

All of the images used in SignalScape were hand drawn on a PC using a basic draw/paint program. A key design decision was to create the artwork as negatives from the outset, white line work on a black background.

This is important because when reflected onto a transparent acrylic screen, black becomes invisible. The result is floating line art and colour, with no visible background, enhancing the illusion effect. Bright, saturated colours are then applied to the white elements so they read clearly on the transparent display.

Each original image is duplicated into five colour/shade versions, corresponding to Wi-Fi signal strength:

  1. Blues
  2. Greens
  3. Oranges
  4. Yellows
  5. Reds

This directly matches the five configurable states available in Total Launcher’s dynamic Wi-Fi signal reader, allowing the artwork to change automatically as the signal strength changes.

Static or Animated:

The images can be used in two ways:

  1. Animated GIFs, where elements of the scene subtly move (clouds drifting, lights pulsing, water rippling).
  2. Static images (PNG or JPEG) for a calmer, completely still display.

Both approaches work equally well, depending on the look you want. In this Instructable, both static images and GIF files are supplied to demonstrate the effect and to give you ready to use assets for your own build.

If drawing is not your thing:

If drawing your own artwork isn’t part of your skill set, there are plenty of alternatives:

  1. Use royalty-free line art or vector illustrations and recolour them
  2. Create abstract designs using simple shapes and gradients
  3. Use AI image generators and convert the results into high contrast line art
  4. Modify existing photos by tracing outlines and simplifying them
  5. Download free cityscape or landscape vectors and adapt them for negative style display

The key requirement isn’t artistic perfection, it’s contrast, simplicity, and colour clarity. Once those are in place, SignalScape does the rest.

Step 2: Making the Display Frame

  1. Apply masking tape to both sides of all acrylic sheets before marking or cutting. This helps prevent scratches and makes cut lines easier to see.
  2. Mark out the two side panels first. These are cut in a vase-like shape: wider at the top and bottom, narrowing slightly through the middle for a more elegant profile.
  3. Cut the side panels using a jigsaw fitted with a fine toothed blade, taking your time to avoid chipping or melting the acrylic.
  4. With the side panels complete, mark the pivot points in the centre area of each side panel.
  5. Drill two matching holes, one in each side panel, using a step drill bit. The hole diameter should match the shaft size of the pivot hinges exactly.
  6. Cut the top panel, sized to support the tablet securely.
  7. Cut the bottom support panel, slightly narrower than the top, to stabilise the frame without visually overpowering it.
  8. Dry-fit all parts to confirm alignment, then glue the top panel to the side panels, ensuring everything remains square.
  9. Once the top has set, glue the bottom panel in place between the sides.
  10. Insert the pivot hinges into the drilled holes in the side panels. These should be a tight press fit.
  11. Finally, slot the angled acrylic screen panel into the pivot hinges, allowing it to sit securely while remaining adjustable, then tighten the hinge screws.

Tips to Avoid Acrylic Cracking:

  1. Leave the masking tape on until all cutting, drilling, and test fitting is complete. It reduces surface stress and protects against accidental scratches.
  2. Use the correct blade: a fine toothed jigsaw blade designed for plastics works best. Avoid aggressive wood blades, they generate heat and cause chipping.
  3. Go slow when cutting. Let the blade do the work. If the acrylic starts to melt or bind, pause and allow it to cool.
  4. Support the sheet fully on both sides of the cut to prevent vibration and flexing, which can cause cracks to start.
  5. When drilling, never use excessive pressure. A step drill bit is ideal, as it widens the hole gradually and reduces stress.
  6. Back the acrylic with scrap wood when drilling to prevent breakout on the exit side.
  7. Keep drilled holes at least 15–20 mm from edges wherever possible to maintain strength.
  8. Avoid solvent-based glues unless you’re experienced with them. For beginners, a hot glue gun or acrylic-safe adhesive is far more forgiving.

Step 3: Drawing the Pictures

Above are some demo GIFs I made to give you some different examples that can be used which you can either use for yourself, or use as inspiration to draw your own. The Veyron is just a different example other than using landscapes, and the final set of 5 is an example of static images. The cityscape and car are using pure black backgrounds which will become transparent on the reflected display, and the others will show the details.

For the landscape pictures, I mainly focused on the water and sky as the main areas for colour changes as these are the larger, more dominant areas that are easily seen from across a room.

  1. Choose a simple draw or paint program on your PC. This can be anything from a basic paint application to a more advanced editor, the key is control over layers, colours, and export formats.
  2. Set the canvas size to match the tablet’s screen resolution and landscape orientation. This ensures the artwork fills the display cleanly when reflected.
  3. Fill the background with solid black. Remember, black will disappear on the transparent acrylic, so this becomes your invisible canvas.
  4. Sketch the scene using white lines and shapes. Keep forms bold and uncluttered, landscapes, horizons, skylines, or abstract elements work best. Thin details can get lost in reflection.
  5. Refine the outlines, adjusting line thickness so they remain visible from a distance. What looks subtle on a monitor often needs to be stronger on glass.
  6. Add bright colour accents to the white elements, keeping the black background untouched. These colours will become the visible, floating parts of the image.
  7. Save this version as the master image. This will be your reference for all signal strength variations.
  8. Duplicate the master image four times, creating a total of five identical images.
  9. Recolour each duplicate to match the Wi-Fi signal strength states.
  10. Blue – 100%
  11. Green – 75%
  12. Orange – 50%
  13. Yellow – 25%
  14. Red – 0% / no signal
  15. As you may have spotted in some of my designs, I have also added a text element that displays a numbered signal percentage. Simple use the text tool to add the correct number to each of the images.
  16. Export the images in your chosen format, PNG or JPEG for static images.

Optional - Adding Animation:

  1. To animate, separate potential moving elements (clouds, lights, waves, pulses) onto their own picture files.
  2. Export frames and use a free web-based GIF creator to assemble the animation. Adobe Express has the option to save your work as a GIF.
  3. And keep motion slow and subtle, this is ambient information, not a screensaver from the 1990s bouncing all over the place.

Final Check:

Before loading the images onto the tablet, view them on a black background in a darkened room. If they read clearly there, they’ll look excellent reflected onto acrylic.

For pictures that don't move, you can skip the following step, and send the five pictures you made to your tablet (file transfer, email etc.).

Step 4: Animating the Pictures

The following is if you want to animate the images. I will use the pictures that contain water.

  1. With your paint program still open, either erase all of the image except for the water area, or if you are using a program like MS Paint 3D, select 'Make 3D' and drag the borders around the water area, click 'Next' and check to make sure only the water area is highlighted. Use the 'Add' or 'Remove' tools to edit parts of the water image so just the water remains. Click 'Done' then 'Save As', select the 'Transparent' option then save the image.
  2. Open Adobe Express > click the blue ‘Go to Adobe Express’ button > ‘Start from your content’ > double click on your Wi-Fi 100% picture you made to upload it > Click ‘Edit original image’ > resize the picture to its maximum size > click on the ‘Background Colour’ icon (the plain square icon which should be set to default white) and choose black.
  3. Now tap 'Upload' and choose the transparent water image you made. Resize and position it to the size of the water area in the original image.
  4. Now click ‘Animation’ > tap 'Loop' > tap the animation you want, I chose 'Turbulence' for the water > then tap the animation button you chose again, to bring up the settings and adjust the speed, direction etc. to what you want.
  5. If you want to add multiple moving images, follow stages 2 and 3 above for each image/layer.
  6. Then click the ‘Download’ button (top right corner) > change the file format to 'GIF' > and select the quality to 'High quality'.

You should now have the new GIF in your download folder which you can now play. Follow the above stages, 2 to 6, for the other signal strength images.

It was the same process for the car, only this time I selected a wheel to save as a transparent PNG file in the paint program, added it twice to adobe express (two separate layers) then chose the 'Spin' animation, and then changed the 'Spin' settings to adjust the speed and the direction the wheels would rotate.

Step 5: Setting Up Total Launcher

So before we start with any designs, lets get TL up and running and give ourselves a clean canvas to work with which gives us a starting point to lay out the elements we will use such as widgets, areas for buttons, bar graphs etc. This assumes that you have TL already downloaded and installed on your tablet. Also, there are two editors that will be used... A main edit option you toggle On and Off to edit your TL interface, and an element edit where you can change the properties of any buttons, widgets, images and so on.

We will be holding the tablet in landscape mode.

  1. Open the Total Launcher app, then press and hold on an empty space until the page shrinks down. Click on 'Edit Off' to toggle it On.
  2. While the page is shrunk down, if you only want to use the one home page, swipe across to the others and tap the 'bin' icon to delete the pages you don't want. If you want to use multiple pages and want to add some more, tap the "New Page" tab at the bottom of the screen.
  3. One by one, press and hold on all of the default elements on the screen and tap the delete bin icon to start with a blank canvas. On some of the default elements such as the app search widget, don't tap and hold on the app icons, but on a blank area nearby. This widget is a square with invisible/transparent areas which is where you need to tap and hold. The widget (and anything else you select) will then have a yellow chevron outline around it meaning the element editor is active. To turn the element editor off and save the changes you make, tap the 'Back' button of a blank area on the screen. NOTE: You can also press and hold on one element to highlight it, then tap on other elements to highlight them also, then delete them all at once.
  4. Swipe across the screen to the other pages and do the same, or delete unwanted pages instead, by tapping on the bin icon under each page.
  5. Press and hold on an empty screen space until the page shrinks down again, and while at this stage click on the middle square icon (looks like a little mountain) and click on the landscape image. Click on 'Colour' and then choose black with the transparency slider on the bottom of the slider bar.
  6. Click on the blank picture then select 'Stretch to fit screen' then name it "Home" or whatever you want. To add a second page to add more apps etc., swipe across the screen, make a new page, name it 'Page 2' and again set the landscape background to the colour black. Having two pages will come in useful if you intend to use SignalScape in both tablet and transparent modes (see Step 7), and if you want to add more than one Wi-Fi signal picture. Then click on it to bring the screen forward.

At this point you should now have a blank canvas to work with, with just your screen showing the blank, black wallpaper.

One thing to note is if you choose to have more than one page, you can select which one is the home screen page. With the main screen shrunk down again, tap on the little house icon at the top of the launcher page, then click 'OK' to confirm.

You can also rename the pages by clicking on the cog icon then typing in the new 'Label' name then tapping 'OK'. It's a good idea to do this because it may come in useful when you set up your new launcher.

Step 6: Setting Up the Dynamic Wi-Fi Status Pictures

Before we crack on with setting up the launcher UI, I suggest taking a look at the Total Launcher User Guide, or click here to read my Instructable which will tell you all you need to know about what you can do.

So with our five pictures now on out tablet, we need to add them to Total Launcher and set them up to read the network Wi-Fi strength.

  1. Tap and hold anywhere on the black background on the Total Launcher screen until it shrinks down.
  2. With Edit 'On', tap 'Menu' > 'Launcher Options' > 'Resources' > 'Dynamic image' > the '+' icon (bottom right of the screen), > then tap on the 'Type' dropdown menu > scroll down and tap 'Wi-Fi status'.
  3. You will see five options... 'Level 4, 3, 2, 1, Disconnected'. Tap on 'Disconnected' > 'Image' > 'the '+' icon > tap on your red 'Wi-Fi 0' picture/GIF > then tap on the same picture/GIF again.
  4. Do the same to add the other pictures/GIFs to the relevant Wi-Fi levels, then tap 'OK'.
  5. Tap the back button twice, then tap the black page to make it full screen.
  6. Tap the '+' icon (top right corner) > 'Graphic' > 'Image' > 'Default (or 'Do Nothing' depending on the version you have)' > 'Dynamic image' > now you should see your new Wi-Fi signal selection. Tap on it, then drag on the sides to make it fill the screen. Tap on the tablets back button to turn the element editor off and you will now see your image showing the current Wi-Fi signal, and if you used GIFs, you will see your picture moving.
  7. Now move around your home, office etc. with your tablet until the connection gets weaker, or go into its setting and turn the Wi-Fi Off, go back to Total Launcher, and you will see your Wi-Fi signal image change.

Then all you need to do is place your tablet onto the display stand either in transparent mode or tablet mode, and enjoy.

Top Tip:

Tablets generally have a screen 'Time Out' which can be set anywhere from a few seconds up to 30 minutes or so, obviously not great for an 'Always On' Wi-Fi signal reader.

To get around this we will need to get into the tablets 'Developer Options'. To do this, open the tablets 'Settings' app, and search for the tablets 'Build Number' usually found under 'About Tablet' or similar. Tap the build number seven times or so, return to the previous screen and you should now see the new 'Developer Options' tab. Tap on this and look for 'Stay Awake' and toggle it to 'On'. This will now keep the screen on while it is plugged into a power source until you manually turn it off by putting the tablet to sleep or powering it off.

Step 7: Tablet Vs Transparency Modes

In Step 3, stage 10, I mentioned about adding text into the pictures when we drew them, so here is something to note if you do this.

If you use SignalScape in 'Tablet' mode, all you need to do is place the tablet onto the adjustable display screen, job done.

But when using it in 'Landscape' mode, the reflected image will be mirrored so the text will be backwards, so the text in our pictures/GIFs, and any other text added needs a little adjustment which we can do in Total Launcher. This is where having two pages on Total Launcher comes into play... the normal image, and a reversed image.

To flip things around, tap and hold the picture/GIF until it highlights, then tap on the icon that is a half arrow circle with a diamond, found at the bottom right of the screen. Slide the bottom slider all the way to the right or left to rotate the image. tap the back button twice to exit and save, then do the same thing for anything else, text elements, clocks etc.

All you need to do is swipe between the two pages for the correct picture/GIF to be displayed properly.

Step 8: Conclusion

If you follow the step above, you can add more than one custom dynamic Wi-Fi signal meter, so with another set of pictures/GIFS, you can follow the same process, and when you have the second one made, simply swipe across the Total Launcher page to a black screen mentioned in Step 5, and add the second signal meter and resize it.

Another thing you can do, and adding to the 'making the invisible, visible' vibe, is to add the current name of the network you are on which will change automatically when you change networks/hotspots. With the main editor still On, tap on the top right Plus icon, select 'Graphic' > 'Text' > 'Default (or 'Do Nothing' depending on the version you have)' then drag it over to where you want the text displayed over your picture/GIF. Resize it and tap the cog icon at the top of the screen. Here you can write your own text of your choice, change typeface, text colour and size, alignment and more, then finish off by saving your changes. This is also where we can change it from plain text to say the network name. Tap on 'Text' then scroll down and tap 'Wi-Fi ID' > 'OK' > then tap the back button twice. Scroll to the bottom of Step 4 of my other Instructable to find out how to download and add new text fonts to make your Wi-Fi name text more stylish.

You could also make a picture design and leave an area to incorporate a clock and/or a calendar widget element so you can track the invisible passage of time. Be as creative as you want and have some fun coming up and playing with some unique ideas to make seeing your network strength a little more interesting.

Please feel free to download and use any of my pictures if you like them, and if you have any questions in regards to making your own, or for any other project related questions, please leave them in comments and I will try to answer where I can. I hope that you enjoyed this project and please let me know if you make your own SignalScape.

Thanks for reading, and happy making.