Boost Technology has developed a simple experiment to test the accuracy and responsiveness of different computer head pointers. A user is asked to move ten times as quickly as possible between two small targets in opposite corners of the screen. The number of targets successfully hit and the time to complete the task are measured. Each user tried all five head pointers in a random order to rid the test of a learning bias (all else being equal, a user will be better using a head pointer the fifth time compared to the first). Forty-eight people were tested, and the results clearly show that the Boost Tracer out performs the NaturalPoint trackIR*, the Origin HeadMouse, and the Madentec Tracker, and slightly out performs the PRC HeadMaster.**

	Avg. Target Hit Rate	Avg. Time to Complete Test
Boost Tracer	88%	28.8 seconds
Madentec Tracker	79%	35.9 seconds
NaturalPoint trackIR	74%	34.4 seconds
Origin HeadMouse	76%	36.2 seconds
PRC's HeadMaster	88%	30.7 seconds
Regular Hand Mouse	93%	20.0 seconds

Click here for complete test results.

* NaturalPoint's newest product, theSmart-NAV 3, uses the same underlying technology as the TrackIR.

** Compared to PRC's HeadMaster, the Boost Tracer is faster to a statistically significant degree (28.8 seconds vs. 30.7 seconds). People were slightly more successful hitting the targets with PRC's HeadMaster (87.7% vs. 87.9%), but this difference is not statistically significant.