the uncanny valley

The Uncanny Valley

What is the uncanny valley?In 1978, Japanese roboticist Masahiro Mori noticed that whenever something becomes more and more human, we focus increasingly more on its imperfections than the things it got right, and it quickly becomes creepy.

If something is very obviously NOT human and is given human characteristics, we focus on its few human traits and it is endearing.

However, if something is made explicitly to resemble a human, its flaws are extremely obvious, and it becomes unsettling.

Electronic MediaA similar problem exists in electronic media like movies and video games. As the portrayals of characters get increasingly realistic, we focus on the flaws of the depictions.

Stylization

Photorealism

References

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aL9wsEFohTw – LA Noire

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKPPdgBK3r8 heavy rain

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9cp_1l_2Og robot

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pyhf3JmODHE render