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BlinkType: A Free Browser App That Types Morse Code From Eye Blinks

July 8, 2026 at 23:45 EDT

Open Source
Healthcare

A developer has released BlinkType, a browser-based app that lets users type Morse code using only a webcam. A short blink is a dot, a long blink is a dash, and shaking the head sideways acts as backspace—no installation needed, just open the link.

July 2026 · Accessibility Tech

Type With a Blink — Morse Code From Your Webcam

BlinkType is a browser-only app that turns eye blinks into text: a short blink is a dot, a long blink a dash, and a head shake deletes. No install, no sensors — just a webcam and a link.

Free & open source — no dedicated hardware

Commodity webcam is all that's needed

Timing sliders for fine-grained tuning

How the input maps

•

Short blink

= dot

—

Long blink

= dash

↔

Head shake

= backspace

⏸

Pause

= confirm character

Webcam → MediaPipe Face Landmarker → Morse decode → Text (in-browser)

Five tuning sliders

·/− msThreshold separating a dot from a dash

letter msWait after last blink before confirming a character

gap msMinimum interval between blinks (blocks repeats)

min msMinimum blink duration for noise removal

EARThreshold for how closed the eye must be

Why it matters

Communication path for ALS, locked-in syndrome, severe paralysis
Replaces costly eye-tracking rigs with a plain laptop camera
Runs fully in-browser with a real-time tuning interface

Open hurdles

Involuntary blinks (a dozen+ per minute) cause false positives
Lighting instability, esp. laptop built-in cameras
Head-shake backspace can trigger by accident; five sliders are complex
Prototype: input limited to its own field, no long-term ALS reports yet

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