Hands free reflective dot trackers

user using a refective dot tracker to control their computer

If you have a physical limitation that makes it difficult or impossible to use a traditional mouse with your hands, a hands-free mouse can be critical to accessing a computer comfortably and efficiently. A hands-free mouse allows you to perform computer mouse functions without using your hands. There are various options for hands free control of your mouse on a computer screen such as wearable sensors, eye trackers or even speech recognition.  One other possible group of devices are reflective dot trackers. You wear a small reflective dot (often placed as a sticker on the forehead or glasses), and a special sensor unit mounted on or near your computer tracks the motion of the dot to control the mouse cursor as you move.  There is no wired connection between you and the device.   The wearable reflective dot is smaller and less conspicuous than some of the other wearable sensor options. 

These products can replace a traditional mouse for computing platforms such as Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. And some will work with platforms like Android and Chrome OS as well.

Some reflective dot trackers options to consider are as follows

TrackerPro $995

HeadMouse Nano £888.00

SmartNAV 4:AT €465.00 (Although this may be still be purchased, SmartNav has now come to the end of life as a product)

AccuPoint $1,995.00

The good:  If you are OK with wearing the reflective dot you can independently control a mouse cursor without requiring someone to assist putting on a wearable sensor.  Also less chance in something not working than other hands free options such as eye gaze or voice recognition.

The not so good: does require a line-of-sight to the computer, and can be sensitive to lighting conditions.

The verdict:  If you need or want the ability to make very fine, high-resolution movements of the mouse cursor, similar to what is possible with a traditional mouse, then reflective dot trackers are a good option.

4 comments

  1. I have a smartnav device just like this, but appears to be a different kind. I’ve discovered that it does not work on my Samsung laptop, which is Windows 10.

    1. Hi Rakeem, Smartnav have changed the Smartnav case over the years so it may appear different from the video.
      A windows 10 update had caused some problems with Smartnav, see the following for a possible fix
      You could also try their latest version of the software which may help for your Samsung laptop.
      From the Smartnav home page, unfortunately, I see the SmartNav product has now come to the end of life as a product. This does not mean it will stop working for you.
      You could also consider other similar access methods such as Camera mouse

Leave a Reply to Rakeem R Bowdry Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *