What if your virtual pet could find food from the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth signals around you? Meet Harald, a virtual dragon created by a Raspberry Pi enthusiast. Built using a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W and a Waveshare V4 e-paper display, Harald treats nearby Wi-Fi networks and Bluetooth devices as food. Discovering new devices makes the dragon happier, turning everyday wireless activity into a virtual pet game.
Harald uses hardware originally associated with Pwnagotchi, a project for experimenting with Wi-Fi networks. Its creator has given this setup a new purpose by combining Wi-Fi scanning, Bluetooth discovery and a virtual pet system with hunger and happiness levels. Harald can also connect to an Android phone running an app called SensorServer to receive GPS data. This enables walk tracking and allows it to upload information about discovered Wi-Fi networks to WiGLE, an online service that maps Wi-Fi networks using location-based observations contributed by users. This gives Harald a practical use beyond the virtual pet game, allowing users to contribute wireless network observations while exploring outdoors. The creator says Harald scans Wi-Fi networks without sending deauthentication packets or collecting Wi-Fi handshakes. It also includes privacy measures for devices that regularly change their identifying addresses.
What makes Harald interesting is how it turns wireless network discovery into a playful activity with a real-world connection. Instead of simply displaying information about nearby Wi-Fi networks and Bluetooth devices, it uses those discoveries to feed and keep a digital dragon happy. With GPS support and WiGLE integration, it can also connect outdoor walks with wireless network mapping. The project is still an early prototype, and its creator is fixing bugs and improving the pet's behaviour before releasing the software publicly.
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