Multiple Object Tracking
Keep your eyes on the moving targets
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What is the Multiple Object Tracking?
Multiple Object Tracking, often shortened to MOT, is a classic attention experiment introduced by Zenon Pylyshyn and Ron Storm in 1988. Observers see a set of identical objects, a few of which are briefly marked as targets. All the objects then move around at once, and at the end the observer must pick out the targets from the distractors.
Researchers use multiple object tracking to study how many moving things people can follow at once, and how attention is sustained and divided over time. A commonly reported limit is about four objects. In the Neuroptimize game, you watch a few balls glow, follow them as every ball moves and bounces around the arena, then tap the ones you were tracking.
How to play the Multiple Object Tracking
- Each session has 8 rounds. At the start of a round some of the balls glow for a moment. These are your targets.
- The glow fades and all the balls start moving, bouncing off the walls and off each other. Keep following the targets with your eyes.
- When the balls stop, tap the ones you believe are the targets. The instruction shows how many targets there are and how many are left to find.
- Each correct tap turns green and each wrong one turns red. Once you have tapped as many balls as there are targets, any targets you missed are revealed. Finding them all earns a perfect-round bonus.
- At low levels you track 2 targets among a handful of balls. As your level rises the number of targets grows to 5, more distractor balls are added, and the balls move faster and for longer.
- From level 10 upwards the balls also change direction randomly as they move, so their paths are harder to predict.
Strategies and tips
Track a shape, not balls
Try to see the targets as the corners of one imaginary shape, such as a triangle or a square, that stretches and turns as they move. Many people find a single shape easier to hold than several separate balls.
Keep your gaze central
Chasing one ball with your eyes makes it easy to lose the others. Looking near the middle of the arena and using your side vision lets you keep all the targets in view at once.
Watch closely at collisions
Balls bounce off each other, and a collision between a target and a distractor is the moment you are most likely to swap them. When two balls meet, pay extra attention to which one leaves in which direction.
Tap your surest targets first
Every tap counts, and you cannot undo one. Start with the targets you are confident about, then use what is left to decide on the doubtful ones.
Expect random turns later
From level 10 the balls wander off their straight paths. You can no longer predict where a ball will be from its direction alone, so keep your attention on the balls themselves rather than where they seem to be heading.
The science behind the Multiple Object Tracking
Multiple object tracking is an experimental paradigm introduced by Zenon Pylyshyn and Ron Storm in 1988. Observers follow several moving targets among identical distractors. Most people can track about four objects at once, and the task is used to study sustained and divided attention.
Frequently asked questions
How many objects can people track at once?
Studies of multiple object tracking commonly report a limit of about four objects, though it varies with speed, spacing and the individual. The Neuroptimize game starts with 2 targets and goes up to 5 at the highest levels.
What does multiple object tracking measure?
Researchers use it to study sustained attention, keeping focus over several seconds, and divided attention, spreading focus across several items at once. It has also been used to explore how the visual system keeps track of objects as they move.
Why do I lose targets when balls bump into each other?
When two identical balls touch, there is nothing to tell them apart except their motion. If your attention slips at that moment, it is easy to follow the wrong one away from the collision. Watching collisions closely helps with this in the game.
Is Multiple Object Tracking free?
Multiple Object Tracking is a Pro game in Neuroptimize, and Pro starts with a 7-day free trial. Free players can also get it as the Pro game of the day in their daily workout.