Creating Social Impact Through Technology Recognized by Apple 2026-07-30

■  Morspeak: Converting Subtle Signals Like Eye Blinks from ALS Patients into Body Morse Code to Support Daily Communication and Device Control

■  Contributing to Restoring Not Only Patients' Dignity but Also the Daily Lives of Caregivers Bound by Caregiving

■  Donation Campaign Held with Smilegate Heemangstudio, Full Proceeds Delivered to Seungil Heemang Hospital, Korea's First Specialized ALS Care Hospital

What would life look like if a sudden illness or unfortunate accident left every muscle in your body unable to move? There is a startup that has devoted itself to developing technology to answer that question. It is Morspeak, which has developed technology to help those who have been cut off from the world due to physical limitations communicate smoothly.

Recently, Morspeak has been running a donation campaign called "A Day Connected Through Blinks" together with Smilegate Heemangstudio to support ALS patients. Smilegate Newsroom met with CEO Han Ga-on to hear his thoughts on Morspeak's technological vision and social contribution.

A Video About ALS Patients, Seen by Chance, Moved His Heart

CEO Han Ga-on was shocked after happening to watch a video about ALS patients.

After watching a patient's illness journal and related documentary, Han learned how people who could barely move their bodies would still try desperately to respond with their eyes when someone spoke to them. He then spent a long time thinking about how a person with almost no remaining movement could convey their thoughts.

"Even as technology advances rapidly, patients and caregivers were still struggling to communicate through nothing but glances and eye blinks, filled with frustration. Watching that, I realized I could no longer just feel vague concern from the sidelines — I decided I had to develop the technology myself."

He then visited Seungil Heemang Hospital, a specialized ALS hospital, to meet patients directly and understand the real situation on the ground. After encountering a patient who had given up trying to communicate because nurses and family members, despite asking again and again, still couldn't understand what the patient meant, Han decided he needed to develop technology that could take responsibility for someone's daily life and dignity.

"I saw a grandmother who had been suffering from ALS for a long time try desperately to write with her finger to communicate, but eventually give up because she couldn't. Seeing her earnest effort made me feel a sense of responsibility to properly build technology that would help patients communicate."

Apple Was the First to Recognize Morspeak's "Gorgeous" Technology

Morspeak's name combines "Morse code" and "Speak." It is also the name of the application that helps people who have difficulty moving freely communicate using only minimal body movements. The system uses just two signals — dots (·) and dashes (–), i.e., short and long signals — to enable communication. For example, the Morse code for the letter A is "·–", so a patient expressing it would blink once briefly and once for a longer duration. 

Completed sentences are displayed as text on screen and simultaneously read aloud. This greatly expands communication that was previously limited to simple "yes/no" responses into something far more varied and specific. It also adds convenience features like controlling lights and curtains, or playing videos and music, expanding the range of things patients can do on their own. It also links in real time with a caregiver app, so patient calls are never missed while giving caregivers back genuine personal time.

Recognized for this technology, Morspeak was invited to Apple's 2025 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). Apple holds an annual global app competition for developers called the "Swift Student Challenge," selecting 350 applicants to invite to its headquarters. Of those, 50 outstanding developers are chosen, and the top 11 are given the opportunity to present their apps directly to CEO Tim Cook. CEO Han Ga-on of Morspeak was the only Korean developer selected among those 11. Tim Cook praised Morspeak as "gorgeous" innovative technology that would inspire many engineers.

Morspeak's technology changes not only the lives of patients but also the lives of caregivers who had been tied to the bedside 24 hours a day. As patients become able to control objects themselves and call for a caregiver in an emergency, the psychological anxiety of caregivers is eased. One family that adopted Morspeak reportedly gave feedback that the patient could now request what they needed and listen to music on their own, allowing the caregiver to finally sleep soundly in their own bed for the first time in years.

Morspeak currently focuses on showcasing its technology mainly for ALS patients, but plans to expand its scope going forward to include all people with severe motor impairments whose consciousness remains intact but who have difficulty moving — such as those with stroke, Parkinson's disease, or severe spinal injuries. It also plans to expand beyond eye blinks to other input signals tailored to whatever movement remains for each individual, such as mouth opening, small finger touches, facial grimaces, or subtle toe movements.

Ultimately, Morspeak aims to go beyond simply recognizing eye blinks, to read the intention and context behind each signal, helping patients live their days to the fullest.

Creating Social Impact Together with Heemangstudio

CEO Han Ga-on learned about Heemangstudio through an introduction by Kim Jung-eun, CEO of JamJam Therapeutics, who had previously carried out a social contribution project with Heemangstudio. Han resonated with Heemangstudio's track record of solving blind-spot problems and its sincerity in doing so.

Smilegate Heemangstudio is running the donation campaign "A Day Connected Through Blinks" together with Morspeak to support ALS patients. All donations go to the nonprofit Seungil Heemang Foundation, which supports ALS patients, and are used for caregiving support such as meal assistance, hygiene care, and mobility support.

Users have also been actively participating and showing their support. The campaign's online page has been filled with heartfelt comments, including messages expressing understanding for the hearts of ALS patients' families and wishing them strength, and messages wishing patients happiness and joy despite their illness.

CEO Han Ga-on said, "Heemangstudio is a platform that practically demonstrates how social contribution activities like donation and volunteering can be enjoyable, like a game. Working with Heemangstudio gave Morspeak a new perspective as well — technology that can bring joy back into patients' daily lives." While Han had previously focused on values like "human dignity" and "medical care," the collaboration with Heemangstudio led him to realize a new kind of technological value that Morspeak could offer.

We hope that the social impact created together by Heemangstudio and Morspeak will bring positive, visible change to the lives of those who struggle to communicate. The donation campaign run jointly by Heemangstudio and Morspeak can be found at the link below.