The Uncanny Valley: Effect of Realism on the Impression of Artificial Human Faces

Roboticists believe that people will have an unpleasant impression of a humanoid robot that has an almost, but not perfectly, realistic human appearance. This is called the uncanny valley, and is not limited to robots, but is also applicable to any type of human-like object, such as dolls, masks, facial caricatures, avatars in virtual reality, and characters in computer graphics movies. The present study investigated the uncanny valley by measuring observers' impressions of facial images whose degree of realism was manipulated by morphing between artificial and real human faces. Facial images yielded the most unpleasant impressions when they were highly realistic, supporting the hypothesis of the uncanny valley. However, the uncanny valley was confirmed only when morphed faces had abnormal features such as bizarre eyes. These results suggest that to have an almost perfectly realistic human appearance is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for the uncanny valley. The uncanny valley emerges only when there is also an abnormal feature.

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The thing that should not be: predictive coding and the uncanny valley in perceiving human and humanoid robot actions

Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience ◽

10.1093/scan/nsr025 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 7 (4) ◽

pp. 413-422 ◽

Cited By ~ 195

Author(s):

Ayse Pinar Saygin ◽

Thierry Chaminade ◽

Hiroshi Ishiguro ◽

Jon Driver ◽

Chris Frith

Keyword(s):

Humanoid Robot ◽

Predictive Coding ◽

Uncanny Valley ◽

The Uncanny

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The Presence of the Uncanny Valley Between Animation and Cinema

Advances in Media, Entertainment, and the Arts - Multidisciplinary Perspectives on New Media Art ◽

10.4018/978-1-7998-3669-8.ch005 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 97-118 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Rodrigo Assaf ◽

Sahra Kunz ◽

Luís Teixeira

Keyword(s):

Computer Graphics ◽

Human Perception ◽

Genre Theory ◽

Technological Evolution ◽

Uncanny Valley ◽

Uses And Gratification ◽

Uses And Gratification Theory ◽

Psychological Theories ◽

The Uncanny ◽

Technological Advances

Despite all the technological advances in the field of computer graphics, the uncanny valley effect is still an observed phenomenon affecting not only how animated digital characters are developed but also the audience's reaction during a film session. With the emergence of computer-generated images being used in films, this chapter aims at presenting a multidisciplinary approach concerning the uncanny valley topic. This phenomenon is mainly explained by several psychological theories based on human perception; however, this chapter contributes to the discussion presenting a communication perspective based on the uses and gratification theory connected to the genre theory proposed by Daniel Chandler. In addition, the authors discuss how the technological evolution in rendering is helping out artists to cross the valley, which ends up being unveiled only by motion. As a result of this technical evolution, it is proposed a new animation art style category defined as quasi-real.

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Probing the Uncanny Valley with the Eye Size Aftereffect

Presence Teleoperators & Virtual Environments ◽

10.1162/pres.18.5.321 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 18 (5) ◽

pp. 321-339 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Jun'ichiro Seyama ◽

Ruth S Nagayama

Keyword(s):

Adaptation Period ◽

Uncanny Valley ◽

Natural Stimuli ◽

Eye Size ◽

The Uncanny ◽

Prolonged Observation ◽

Natural Test ◽

Human Faces ◽

Abnormal Visual ◽

Do So

Natural human faces with abnormal visual features produce uncomfortable impressions, but artificial faces (e.g., robotic faces) do not necessarily do so. This is an example of the phenomenon called the uncanny valley. We hypothesized that this phenomenon indicates that natural and artificial faces are processed by different perceptual mechanisms, or they are processed differently by common mechanisms. We tested these hypotheses using a facial aftereffect where prolonged observation of adaptation faces with enlarged eyes induced a bias to underestimate the eye size of test faces. The results showed that adaptation to natural stimuli induced the aftereffect for both natural and artificial test stimuli. This suggests that the two types of faces engage common perceptual mechanisms. Adaptation to artificial stimuli also induced the aftereffect for natural test stimuli. However, artificial stimuli required a longer adaptation period (120 s) for the aftereffect to be induced compared to natural stimuli (60 s), suggesting that the processing of artificial faces by the human visual system may be inefficient. The uncanny valley may reflect that artificial faces are processed inefficiently by perceptual mechanisms that are common for processing natural and artificial faces.

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Uncanny but not confusing: Multisite study of perceptual category confusion in the Uncanny Valley

10.31219/osf.io/89sf4 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Maya B Mathur ◽

David Reichling ◽

FRANCESCA LUNARDINI ◽

Alice Geminiani ◽

Alberto Antonietti ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Category Boundary ◽

Causal Role ◽

Uncanny Valley ◽

Mediation Analyses ◽

The Uncanny ◽

Perceptual Category ◽

Real Robot ◽

Negative Feelings ◽

Human Faces

Android robots that are close, but imperfect, likenesses of humans can provoke negative feelings of dislike and eeriness in humans (“Uncanny Valley” effect). We investigated whether category confusion between the perceptual categories of “robot” and “human” contributes to Uncanny Valley aversion. Using a novel, validated corpus of 182 images of real robot and human faces, we precisely estimated the shape of the Uncanny Valley and the location of the perceived robot/human boundary. To implicitly measure confusion, we tracked 358 subjects’ mouse trajectories as they categorized the faces. We observed a clear Uncanny Valley and a pattern of categorization supporting a perceived categorical boundary. Yet, in contrast to predictions of the category confusion mechanism hypothesis, the Uncanny Valley and category boundary locations did not coincide, and mediation analyses further failed to support a causal role of category confusion. These results suggest category confusion does not explain the Uncanny Valley effect.

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Crossing the "Uncanny Valley": adaptation to cartoon faces can influence perception of human faces

Journal of Vision ◽

10.1167/10.7.626 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 10 (7) ◽

pp. 626-626

Author(s):

H. Chen ◽

R. Russell ◽

K. Nakayama ◽

M. Livingstone

Keyword(s):

Uncanny Valley ◽

The Uncanny ◽

Human Faces

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Interaction Fidelity: The Uncanny Valley of Virtual Reality Interactions

Lecture Notes in Computer Science - Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality ◽

10.1007/978-3-319-39907-2_6 ◽

2016 ◽

pp. 59-70 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

Ryan P. McMahan ◽

Chengyuan Lai ◽

Swaroop K. Pal

Keyword(s):

Virtual Reality ◽

Uncanny Valley ◽

The Uncanny

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Experimental Study Toward Modeling of the Uncanny Valley Based on Eye Movements on Human/Non-human Faces

Human-Computer Interaction. Interaction Modalities and Techniques - Lecture Notes in Computer Science ◽

10.1007/978-3-642-39330-3_42 ◽

2013 ◽

pp. 398-407

Author(s):

Yoshimasa Tawatsuji ◽

Kazuaki Kojima ◽

Tatsunori Matsui

Keyword(s):

Experimental Study ◽

Eye Movements ◽

Uncanny Valley ◽

The Uncanny ◽

Human Faces

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Human Perception of Animacy in Light of the Uncanny Valley Phenomenon

Perception ◽

10.1177/0301006617722742 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 46 (12) ◽

pp. 1386-1411 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Shensheng Wang ◽

Philippe Rochat

Keyword(s):

Emotional Responses ◽

Reaction Times ◽

Human Perception ◽

Sorting Task ◽

Future Research ◽

Uncanny Valley ◽

The Uncanny ◽

Human Likeness ◽

Nonlinear Relation ◽

Human Faces

The uncanny valley hypothesis by Japanese roboticist Masahiro Mori posits a nonlinear relation between human replicas’ human likeness and the emotional responses they elicit. In three studies, we corroborated the uncanny valley hypothesis, using the uncanny phenomenon as a vehicle to shed a new light on human animacy perception. In Study 1, 62 participants rated emotional responses and human likeness of 89 artificial and human faces. In Study 2, another 62 participants conducted a visual looming task with the same 89 faces allowing for the measurement of perceived threat. Results support the uncanny valley hypothesis, suggesting that the uncanny feeling may serve a function to wary humans of the potential danger of entities crossing the animate–inanimate boundary. In Study 3, 36 participants sorted faces as either real or unreal as quickly as possible in a reaction time sorting task allowing for the measurement of categorical uncertainty associated with animacy perception. Faces associated with longer sorting reaction times were also those associated with the highest ratings of negative emotions, suggesting that categorical uncertainty in animacy detection is related to the uncanny feeling. Results are discussed in light of human animacy perception and new directions for future research are suggested.

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