pointerpointer.com

January 15, 2026

What PointerPointer.com Is

PointerPointer.com is a simple, interactive website created as a bit of web experimentation and novelty. When you open it and move your mouse around the screen, something surprising happens: it doesn’t just show you a static background or random content. Instead, wherever you put your cursor, the site finds and displays a photo of someone pointing exactly at that spot.

There’s no traditional purpose behind it. It’s not a productivity tool, a game with levels, or a utility you’d use for work. The entire point of the site is the playful interaction — you move your cursor and the webpage responds by displaying an image of a person pointing directly at your pointer. That’s it.

How It Works Technically (Roughly)

Behind the scenes PointerPointer does something fairly straightforward but clever:

• The site tracks the position of your mouse cursor using JavaScript.
• There’s a large collection of photos in the site’s database, each featuring a person pointing in a specific direction.
• Based on where your cursor sits — top left, bottom right, and everywhere in between — the code selects a photo where the pointing finger aligns with that rough location.
• It then displays that photo at the right moment so that it looks like someone in the image is literally pointing at your cursor.

The exact technical implementation likely uses a grid or spatial mapping under the hood so that the cursor’s coordinates map to the right image. Some developers have analyzed bits of the site’s JavaScript and explained this kind of lookup is done using canvas or a Voronoi algorithm to determine the best match quickly.

People on web development forums have also speculated that the images might be tagged with the approximate angle of the pointing gesture. Then the site picks the one that best matches your cursor’s angle relative to the center of the screen. There’s no magic AI calculating a new image every time — it’s pre-existing photos being served up contextually.

The User Experience

When you first open PointerPointer, you’ll usually just see a blank screen at first — there’s no traditional site navigation or buttons to click. You move your cursor somewhere and then wait a moment. After a short delay, an image appears. The user experience is pretty minimal:

• No login or setup required.
• Move your mouse or cursor anywhere — the site responds.
• Reloading the page or changing where the cursor sits gives you a new pointing photo.

Some people find this amusing, others find it a bit odd. It was once featured in lists of the “weirdest” or most amusing novelty websites on the internet.

Origin and Context

PointerPointer isn’t a product from a big tech company or a new startup. It was created by an experimental interactive design studio called Studio Moniker based in Amsterdam. The project dates back to around 2012 and quickly became a viral curiosity because of its simplicity and the almost absurd nature of the interaction: people pointing at your mouse.

At the time of its release it garnered attention from tech blogs and online communities because it was such a departure from typical web design at the time — no login forms, no social media sharing prompts, no banners or ads. Just an experience.

The site’s popularity grew organically, often getting shared on forums, social news sites, and novelty lists. Even many years after its launch it still shows up in lists of quirky internet gems.

Why It’s Interesting

PointerPointer doesn’t solve a problem or provide productivity. Its value is purely in the novelty:

• It shows how interactive web design can be playful rather than functional.
• It reminds us that JavaScript and dynamic content can be used in creative ways beyond traditional UI.
• It became an early example of what the internet can do when designers build something just for fun.

For many people, the joy of PointerPointer is in trying it multiple times. You move the cursor around, reload the page, and watch as different photos appear. It’s not deep; it’s just a tiny interactive moment on the internet.

Things to Know Before You Visit

• JavaScript is required. The site won’t work properly if your browser has JavaScript turned off.
• It may load slowly sometimes. Because it’s pulling images that match your cursor position, there’s often a brief delay before the photo appears.
• It’s not optimized for mobile. Many users report that the experience works best on a desktop or laptop where you have precise pointer control.

Key Takeaways

• PointerPointer.com is an interactive novelty site that displays photos of people pointing at your cursor position.
• It tracks your mouse and selects matching images from a database based on where you move it.
• It was created by Studio Moniker as a playful tech experiment, not a utility tool.
• The experience is simple, amusing, and unfamiliar compared to most modern web apps.

FAQ

Do I need an account to use PointerPointer.com?
No. The site doesn’t require any registration or login. You just visit and interact.

Why are the images pointing at the cursor?
The site has a collection of photos and uses your cursor’s position to select one that roughly matches the pointer direction — making it appear as if the person in the photo is pointing at your cursor.

Is it safe to use?
There’s nothing inherently unsafe about visiting. It doesn’t collect personal data beyond basic browser info, and the interaction is purely client-side. Still, as with any website, you should be cautious if something unexpected appears. No reports suggest harmful intent.

Will it work on my phone or tablet?
The experience is designed around mouse pointers, so it’s not ideal on touch devices where you don’t have a visible cursor.

Who built it?
An Amsterdam design studio called Studio Moniker created it as a creative web experiment around 2012.