Harvard Age Guessing Game Claims To Be Accurate Just By Analysing Clicking Patterns

Can This Simple Game Really Guess Your Age?

Updated 17:30, 23 April 2013 - Please note there have been problems with accessing the Harvard game through the link because the server is overloaded

Scientists at Harvard University have developed a deceptively simple looking computer game - and they claim it can guess your age with an unnerving accuracy.

In the game you have to click highlighted dots as fast as possible, over 10 separate stages. But the game isn't just a simple case of analysing how fast you can move a mouse around.

As the makers explain:

To guess your age, we look at over 60 factors. 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.

There were some mixed results when tested by members of the HuffPost UK office.

This writer is 29 which it got spot on. The majority of guesses were 1-3 years out but there were also a few ones that were way out.

One nameless editor is a mere 23 but was told she is 30. Much more appreciated were the two 41-year-olds who can click dots like 30-year-olds.

Go and take the test, then come back and tell us how accurate it was.

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