🖐️ Live Morse Code Hand Translator

A real-time Computer Vision system translating hand gestures into Morse code, alphanumeric text, and spoken voice.

Key Features • Gesture Controls • System Architecture • Installation • Customization

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📖 Overview

The Live Morse Code Hand Translator is an assistive computer vision application that turns natural hand gestures into Morse code symbols (. and -), decodes them into full English sentences in real time, and vocalizes the result using an offline Text-to-Speech (TTS) engine.

Designed for full-screen conversational accessibility and hands-free input, the project features a responsive cyber-style Heads-Up Display (HUD), dynamic cooldown protection against accidental triggers, and a built-in Morse reference cheat sheet right beside the video feed.

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✨ Key Features

• 🎨 High-Contrast Light Themes: Beautiful, modern light interface with Emerald Green and Sunset Orange color palettes (press T to toggle).
• 🔍 Crystal-Clear Graphic Morse Glyphs: Custom anti-aliased solid circles and rounded bars replace tiny font dots, making Morse codes effortlessly readable from across the room.
• 💡 Live Candidate Preview: Instantly previews the letter you are currently forming (e.g. INPUT: · — -> [ A ]) before you lock it in.
• 🎯 Instant Letter Lock: A closed-fist gesture immediately commits and decodes the Morse sequence without waiting on an arbitrary timeout.
• 🗣️ Voice Output: Integrated offline Text-to-Speech (pyttsx3) speaks your completed sentence on command.
• 🖥️ Full-Screen HUD & 3-Column Sidebar: High-visibility split-screen layout showing your webcam feed, live input buffer, conversation history, and an ITU-R M.1677-1 verified alphanumeric Morse cheat sheet.
• ⏱️ Visual Cooldown Indicator: An on-screen timer bar prevents duplicate inputs and guarantees clean gesture recognition.
• ⌫ Full Editing Control: Built-in gestures to add spaces, backspace errors, or wipe the input buffer clean.

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🎮 Gesture Controls

The system evaluates open vs. closed fingers using landmark geometry. Use the following gestures in front of the camera:

Gesture	Pose / Landmark Trigger	Action	Behavior
☝️	1 Finger (Index up)	Add Dot (.)	Appends . to the active Morse buffer (repeats every 1.0s while held)
✌️	2 Fingers (Index + Middle up)	Add Dash (-)	Appends - to the active Morse buffer (repeats every 1.0s while held)
✊	Fist (All fingers & thumb closed)	Lock Letter	Decodes current Morse buffer into an alphabet letter
👍	Thumb Only (Fingers closed, thumb out)	Add Space	Appends a space ( ) to the conversation
🤟	3 Fingers (Index, Middle, Ring up)	Backspace	Deletes the last character in the sentence
🖖	4 Fingers (Index, Middle, Ring, Pinky up)	Speak Sentence	Reads out the entire sentence via Text-to-Speech
🖐️	Open Palm (All 5 fingers extended)	Clear Buffer	Clears the active Morse input buffer
🙌	Both Hands (Both hands raised)	Write to Paper	Saves conversation to paper_notes.txt & saved_conversations.txt

💡 Tip: Hold 1 or 2 fingers steadily to stream multiple dots or dashes every second with the dynamic on-screen progress bar. Raise both hands at any time to write and export your sentence to paper notes.

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🧠 How It Works

flowchart LR
    A[Webcam Feed] --> B[MediaPipe Hands\n21 3D Landmarks]
    B --> C{Finger & Thumb\nGeometry Engine}
    C -->|1 or 2 Fingers| D[Morse Buffer\n'.' or '-']
    C -->|Fist Gesture| E[Dictionary Lookup\nAlphanumeric Char]
    C -->|Thumb Gesture| F[Append Space]
    C -->|3 Fingers| G[Backspace]
    C -->|4 Fingers| H[pyttsx3 TTS Engine\nSpoken Audio]
    C -->|5 Fingers| I[Wipe Buffer]
    
    D --> J[OpenCV Fullscreen HUD\nLive Feed + HUD + Morse Key Sidebar]
    E --> J
    F --> J
    G --> J
    I --> J

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1. Landmark Analysis: The app compares the relative vertical coordinates of fingertip landmarks ([8, 12, 16, 20]) against their corresponding lower PIP joints (tip - 2), while measuring the horizontal displacement of the thumb tip (4) relative to the wrist (0).
2. Debounce Engine: A 1.0-second delay timer prevents duplicate triggers while you hold or transition between gestures.
3. Morse Translation: When a fist is shown, the accumulated dot/dash buffer is mapped against the international Morse alphabet dictionary and appended to your active sentence.

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🚀 Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Python 3.8 to 3.11
• A functional webcam
• An audio output device (speakers or headphones)

1. Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/kailash6207/Live-Morse-Code-Hand-Translator.git
cd Live-Morse-Code-Hand-Translator

2. Create and Activate a Virtual Environment (Recommended)

# Windows
python -m venv venv
venv\Scripts\activate

# macOS / Linux
python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate

3. Install Dependencies

pip install -r requirements.txt

(If on Linux, you may also need espeak: sudo apt-get install espeak)

4. Run the Application

python Main.py

5. Keyboard Shortcuts

• Spacebar: Append a space ( ) to your sentence.
• Backspace: Delete the last dot/dash from the active buffer, or last letter from sentence.
• Enter: Speak the current conversation sentence aloud.
• e: Export conversation history to timestamped file (saved_conversations.txt).
• t: Toggle color theme (Emerald Green ⇄ Sunset Orange Light Themes).
• s: Toggle Audio feedback ON / OFF in real time.
• c: Clear the current sentence and input buffer.
• q or Esc: Exit the application.

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⚙️ Customization

You can easily tweak settings at the top of Main.py:

# Select default theme: 'green' or 'orange'
current_theme_key = 'green'

# Change the gesture debounce cooldown (in seconds)
DELAY_INTERVAL = 1.0  # Decrease to 0.7 for faster input once practiced

# Change TTS Speech Rate
engine.setProperty('rate', 160)  # Adjust talking speed (default: 160 wpm)

# Adjust Hand Detection Sensitivity
hands = mp_hands.Hands(max_num_hands=1, min_detection_confidence=0.7)

# Customize Sound Frequencies & Durations
SOUND_EFFECTS = {
    'dot': (1000, 80),
    'dash': (1000, 240),
    'lock': (1400, 90),
    ...
}

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📁 Project Structure

Live-Morse-Code-Hand-Translator/
│
├── Main.py              # Main application loop, CV pipeline, HUD, and TTS
├── requirements.txt     # List of project dependencies
└── README.md            # Project documentation

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🔮 Roadmap / Future Improvements

• Audio feedback (distinct asynchronous beeps for dots, dashes, and lock chimes)
• Support numbers (0–9) and punctuation (?, ,, .)
• Non-blocking Text-to-Speech (camera loop never freezes during speech)
• Keyboard shortcuts (S for audio, C to clear, T for theme)
• High-contrast light themes with Emerald Green & Sunset Orange color palettes
• Web-based interface using Streamlit or WebRTC

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👤 Author

Developed by Kailash N H

⭐ If you enjoyed this project or found it helpful, feel free to give it a star!