Probing the Uncanny Valley with the Eye Size Aftereffect

2009 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 321-339 ◽  
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.

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

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.

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

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

Human Perception of Animacy in Light of the Uncanny Valley Phenomenon

Perception ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (12) ◽  
pp. 1386-1411 ◽  
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.

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

2007 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 337-351 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun'ichiro Seyama ◽  
Ruth S. Nagayama
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Computer Graphics ◽  
Humanoid Robot ◽  
Sufficient Condition ◽  
Uncanny Valley ◽  
The Uncanny ◽  
Human Faces ◽  
Facial Images

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.

scholarly journals Crossing the ‘Uncanny Valley’: Adaptation to Cartoon Faces Can Influence Perception of Human Faces

Perception ◽  
10.1068/p6492 ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 378-386 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haiwen Chen ◽  
Richard Russell ◽  
Ken Nakayama ◽  
Margaret Livingstone
Keyword(s):  
Uncanny Valley ◽  
The Uncanny ◽  
Human Faces

Trading faces: Complete AI face doubles avoid the uncanny valley

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Welker ◽  
David France ◽  
Alice Henty ◽  
Thalia Wheatley
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Sexual Orientation ◽  
Uncanny Valley ◽  
Torture Survivors ◽  
The Uncanny ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Full Face ◽  
The Impact

Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) enable the creation of videos in which a person appears to say or do things they did not. The impact of these so-called “deepfakes” hinges on their perceived realness. Here we tested different versions of deepfake faces for Welcome to Chechnya, a documentary that used face swaps to protect the privacy of Chechen torture survivors who were persecuted because of their sexual orientation. AI face swaps that replace an entire face with another were perceived as more human-like and less unsettling compared to partial face swaps that left the survivors’ original eyes unaltered. The full-face swap was deemed the least unsettling even in comparison to the original (unaltered) face. When rendered in full, AI face swaps can appear human and avoid aversive responses in the viewer associated with the uncanny valley.

The Uncanny Valley

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessy Rose Goodman
Keyword(s):  
Uncanny Valley ◽  
The Uncanny

Eliza in the uncanny valley: anthropomorphizing consumer robots increases their perceived warmth but decreases liking

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seo Young Kim ◽  
Bernd H. Schmitt ◽  
Nadia M. Thalmann
Keyword(s):  
Uncanny Valley ◽  
The Uncanny

scholarly journals Sending an Avatar to Do a Human's Job: Compliance with Authority Persists Despite the Uncanny Valley

2015 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Himalaya Patel ◽  
Karl F. MacDorman
Keyword(s):  
Ethical Dilemma ◽  
Sensitive Information ◽  
Uncanny Valley ◽  
Human Communication ◽  
Risk Of Falling ◽  
Computer Interfaces ◽  
The Uncanny ◽  
Authority Figure ◽  
Human Likeness ◽  
Motion Quality

Just as physical appearance affects social influence in human communication, it may also affect the processing of advice conveyed through avatars, computer-animated characters, and other human-like interfaces. Although the most persuasive computer interfaces are often the most human-like, they have been predicted to incur the greatest risk of falling into the uncanny valley, the loss of empathy attributed to characters that appear eerily human. Previous studies compared interfaces on the left side of the uncanny valley, namely, those with low human likeness. To examine interfaces with higher human realism, a between-groups factorial experiment was conducted through the internet with 426 midwestern U.S. undergraduates. This experiment presented a hypothetical ethical dilemma followed by the advice of an authority figure. The authority was manipulated in three ways: depiction (digitally recorded or computer animated), motion quality (smooth or jerky), and advice (disclose or refrain from disclosing sensitive information). Of these, only the advice changed opinion about the ethical dilemma, even though the animated depiction was significantly eerier than the human depiction. These results indicate that compliance with an authority persists even when using an uncannily realistic computer-animated double.

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