Uncanny Valley... What is it?

 

I have never heard of this term until today, but it makes a lot of sense and puts a name to something that so many people experience -- fear of dolls, mannequins, clowns, elves, robots, etc.  Why are they so creepy?  Well, there's a reason...

Uncanny Valley, definition:  a term that describes the “eerie sensation” people feel when they encounter a robot with human-like characteristics. It was first coined in 1970 by Masahiro Mori, a robotics professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology.

The Uncanny Valley theory:  Uncanny Valley is a theory in aesthetics suggesting a humanoid object appearing almost, but not exactly, like a real human can evoke feelings of eeriness or revulsion, rather than familiarity, due to the object's proximity to reality yet noticeable imperfections.

Why do we experience Uncanny Valley:  Some cognitive explanations of Uncanny Valley include the idea that we assign humanlike qualities or a mind to artificial people, this can cause cognitive dissonance and confusion since we don't know if we should treat them as human, or trust them to behave as such.

Why is the movie, The Polar Express, considered Uncanny Valley:  The Polar Express is controversial and creepy to some viewers thanks to its animation style, which created a phenomenon known as Uncanny Valley. While the filmmakers clearly opted for a more realistic art style, many of The Polar Express's characters look human but not human enough.

For those who are creeped out by The Polar Express, know that you're not alone. What's more, while the visuals were pretty impressive when the movie was released back in 2004, it hasn't aged well and the sense of Uncanny Valley has arguably worsened with its age. The creators of The Polar Express made the fatal mistake of filming actors with motion-capture technology, which gave every character dead lifeless eyes.

Is Uncanny Valley a psychological response:  There are a number of psychological phenomena in which dramatic emotional responses are evoked by seemingly innocuous stimuli. A well known example is the Uncanny Valley effect, whereby a near human-looking artifact can trigger feelings of eeriness and repulsion.

Does everyone experience Uncanny Valley:  Further, neuroscientists have found that not everyone experiences Uncanny Valley the same way; one may be more or less affected by the phenomenon based on previous life experience.

How do you overcome Uncanny Valley:  For those professionals who create humanoid figures and characters for movies and books... A good way to avoid Uncanny Valley is to move a character's proportions and structure outside the range of human. One reason Gollum was so successful is that he has big eyes, and the shape of his face is not quite human. Grendel in Beowulf is also disfigured and deformed.

Why is Uncanny Valley so creepy:  Mori coined the term Uncanny Valley to describe his observation that as robots appear more humanlike, they become more appealing, but only up to a certain point. Upon reaching Uncanny Valley, our affinity descends into a feeling of strangeness, a sense of unease, and a tendency to be scared or freaked out.