The effect of computer mouse weight on target acquisition

Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the impact of esports peripheral characteristics on gaming performance. Specifically, we examined the role that mouse weight had on performance of a common FPS skill, flicking. We hypothesized that participants would react more quickly and accurately to targets when using lighter mouse.

Methods: To test the perceptual judgement of mouse weight, participants were presented with a pseudo-random order of 5 mice weighing 50g, 55g, 60g, 65g, and 70g, and were asked to place them in order of increasing weight. To establish the effect of mouse weight on gaming performance, 72 PC gamers used 4 different weights (50 gram, 60 gram, 90 gram and 100 gram) of prototype Logitech™ mice to perform a “flick” task, where response time, accuracy and precision were recorded. Mice were presented in a pseudo-randomised manner, with each participant using each weight of mouse with both a locked sensitivity (700 DPI) an unlocked sensitivity (chosen by the participant, M=1200).

Results: Participants were able to determine the correct weight of mouse. Reaction Time (RT) was found to be significantly slower when using the 100g mouse (F(3, 1134)=16.29, p<.001). Accuracy was also significantly poorer with the 100g (F(3, 1134)=5.975, p<.001). Moreover, both accuracy, (F(1, 1136)=22.656, p<.001) and precision (F(1, 1136)=7.533, p=.006) were better when participants completed the task in the DPI locked condition. When comparing performance across targets, accuracy and precision were worse for leftward targets (MRE; F(2, 1149)=47.792, p<.001)(BVE; F(2, 1149)=133.123, p<.001) and bottom targets (MRE; F(2, 1149)=3.009, p=.05)(BVE; F(2, 1149)=3.471, p=.031) compared to rightward and top targets.

Significance: This study provides some of the first quantifiable performance outcomes from esports peripheral experimentation. In finding that performance was inferior when using the 100g mouse (a weight common among commercially sold gaming mice), we show that players may stand to gain benefits from using lighter mice. Moreover, that flick performance was superior in the locked condition corroborates anecdotal evidence that lower sensitivity can facilitate FPS targeting performance. The identification of performance differences depending on target location demonstrates that motor control of extension-based movements of the mouse appear to be easier to accomplish accurately and precisely compared to mouse movements requiring flexion and or adduction arm and hand movements.