This age test will drive you dotty! Online quiz reveals how old you REALLY are... based on reaction time



Site developed by researchers at Harvard University

Seven minute online test analyses how human motor performance changes with age


A web site that claims to be able to accurately predict your age from a few mouse clicks has been launched by US researchers.

Harvard University experts produced the online experiment to examine how our motor controls change as we age.

As users click on a series of dot patterns with their mouse or trackpad, the experiment monitors their reaction time and speed of movement, and even how they move the mouse from one area of the screen to another.

A grab of the test can be seen below in the first image. The second image is the interactive test itself.



Please note that the interactive test may take a few moments to load due to high demand.







HOW IT WORKS

Participants are asked to click on approximately 50 targets of various sizes . As users click on a series of dot patterns with their mouse or trackpad, the experiment monitors their reaction time and speed of movement. It also analyses the tiny pauses between movements, and what shapes the cursor is moved in - all of which the team believe may change as we get older. This information is then compared against the results of users from around the world to predict a participant's age.



The project was created as part of the LabintheWild project at Harvard University.

'To guess your age, we look at over 60 factors,' the team say.

It is one of several experiments designed to turn internet users into 'lab rats'

'Speed definitely matters, but it is only one thing that our software looks at.



'Other factors include the duration of tiny pauses people make while moving the mouse pointer, the timing of the peak velocity, the shape of the movement, and many others.'

The site is part of a suite of online experiments.

'The site is designed to bring research out of the lab into your living room, study, work place, or wherever else you are using computers,' the team behind it says.

Researchers say simply analysing the speed at which people click in an online test can accurately estimate their age

Simple: Participants are presented with a series of dots in changing sizes and patterns, and must click on the red dot in order to proceed to the next stage



HOW ACCURATE IS IT?

By Kerry McDermott

I am 27-years-old - or so says Harvard University's online age predictor.

In reality, sadly I am 30, but three years off the mark isn't bad for an estimate based on a few clicks of a mouse and some basic questions. Taking the test could not be simpler; participants are presented with a series of changing patterns comprised of a series of grey dots and one red one, and must click on the red dot in order to proceed to the next stage.

Altogether, users click on around 50 dots during the test.

I shot through the first 10 or 20 clicks at top speed, ignoring the intermittent message informing me I could take a short break in a bid to achieve the most flattering result possible. But as the test went on I noticed myself slowing down, inadvertently clicking on white space instead of the red dot in my haste to hit the target.

After a shaky finish, my eventual estimate of 27 was better than I had anticipated.



'We are trying to understand how human motor performance changes with age,' the researchers say.



'We believe that research should be done in collaboration with people—with people like you who are interested in learning about themselves and helping research.'

The team also hope the results will show in there are differences in performance around the world.



Participants are asked to click on approximately 50 targets of various sizes, and also also asks a few basic questions about users and their computer use.

At the end of each experiment, you will see a page with your personalized feedback, which lets you compare yourself and your performance to people of other countries.

'By participating, you contribute to research on people's similarities and differences around the world when interacting with technology, and more than 100,000 people have participated in experiments on the site.'

By building up a database of results from around the world, the researcher hope to find out whether different cultures are more adept to this type of test, and whether cultures that use computers more regularly age in different ways.



The team has also developed several other online tests.

In one, entitled 'Are you more American or more Japanese?', participants learn whether you they are more sensitive to a focal object (as most Americans) or more attuned to the context (as many Japanese).

A second tests emotional intelligence, by asking people to read emotions of others just by looking at their eyes.

The final test is designed to find out how different cultures view websites, and find out if colorful websites are more Eastern or more Western.

It asks people to give their views of different types of site, ranging from dull to extremely colourful.

'Many people have asked me why LabintheWild is mainly about exploring how we are different and similar in our cultural preferences,' say the lead researcher, known on the site as labrat.

'I guess one of the reasons is that I have always liked to travel and see how people around the world differ from each other.



'What I find fascinating, and what my research has shown, is that these differences also translate to the online world.'















