Feature request: Custom morse code

[kylecorry31]

This was suggested by a user on Google Play.

Allow flashlight and whistle to play a custom morse code message.

More research is needed before I decide to add this feature:

• [ ] Do search and rescue teams use morse code to communicate with the person they are trying to rescue? If so, why and how often?
• [ ] What benefits would this add to Trail Sense? (ex. long distance communication at night with a flashlight - but is that really necessary + users would need to know how to read morse code)
• [ ] Are there any other use cases which this would be beneficial for? (adjacent to TS' use cases)

[Portagoras]

I think it would be interesting for long distance communication, especially if you would have a way to decode messages as well. Maybe by using the camera with a "scan" field, similar to the QR-Code readers, where an algorithmy is decoding the brightest flashes as morse code. This would make communication over a distance at night possible, even without any network. Would probably be a different issue, but just something that came to mind.

[kylecorry31]

@Portagoras interesting idea, I will need to experiment with how accurately the camera can pick up flashes from a phone's light at night over long distances

[michaelblyons]

...using the camera with a "scan" field, similar to the QR-Code readers, where an algorithm is decoding the brightest flashes as morse code. This would make communication over a distance at night possible, even without any network.

I was also wondering this.

The app linked in #804 does not appear to ingest light from the camera. I have no idea whether it can even be done reliably.

[anon2828226]

Flashdim has a custom morse code flashlight output feature if you want an example of an implementation. https://github.com/cyb3rko/flashdim#features

detecting morse code with a camera seems like a harder problem.