Type with your eyes
Blink in Morse code at your webcam and watch it turn into text. In 1966, a prisoner of war did this on camera to tell the world he was being tortured.
Type with your eyes
Your video stays on this device. Nothing is uploaded or recorded.
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Short blink for a dot. Long blink for a dash.
No camera? Hold the button or the space bar. With the camera on, open your mouth wide to erase.
The man who blinked TORTURE
In 1966, US Navy pilot Jeremiah Denton had been a prisoner of war in North Vietnam for almost a year when his captors put him in front of a camera for a propaganda interview.
While he answered the questions, he blinked. Slowly, as if the lights were bothering him, he spelled out T-O-R-T-U-R-E in Morse code. His captors didn't notice. US Naval Intelligence did when it reviewed the footage, and it was the first clear confirmation that American prisoners were being tortured.
Denton later said his treatment got worse after the footage aired. He was released in 1973 and went on to serve as a US senator. Try the TORTURE challenge above and you'll get a small sense of what it took to do that without a single mistake, with your captors watching.
How to blink Morse code
- Turn on your camera and face the screen in decent light.
- Blink slowly for a dot. Hold your eyes closed for a moment, longer than a normal blink. The bar fills up as you hold.
- Hold longer for a dash. Open your eyes once the bar turns amber.
- Pause with your eyes open to finish the letter. A longer pause adds a space.
- Made a mistake? Open your mouth wide to erase, no hands needed.
You'll need the codes: the Morse code alphabet has them all, or send a friend a secret message to crack instead.
Frequently asked questions
Does this upload my video?
No. The eye tracking runs entirely in your browser using Google's MediaPipe. Your video never leaves your device, and nothing is recorded. You can check by turning off your Wi-Fi once it has loaded: it keeps working.
Why doesn't it pick up every blink?
On purpose. People blink without thinking about 15 times a minute, so very short blinks are ignored. A dot is a deliberate blink held a moment longer, and a dash is held longer still. If it misreads you, set the speed to Relaxed.
How do I blink a space or a new letter?
Just keep your eyes open. After a pause the letter is finished, and after a longer pause a space is added.
Do I need to know Morse code?
No. Pick a challenge and it shows you the code for each letter as you go. In free mode, a chart is one click away.
Can this help someone who can't speak or type?
Blink and Morse input is a real idea in assistive technology, but this page is a demo, not a medical or assistive device. Please talk to a speech-language pathologist about tools built for that.
Why won't the camera start?
Your browser needs permission to use the camera, and the page has to run on a reasonably recent browser. If it still won't start, you can hold the button or the space bar instead.
DotDash teaches you Morse code by ear in five minutes a day. Free to start on iOS and Android.