Whatistheuncannyvalley?

Creepyrobotsandthestrangephenomenonoftheuncannyvalley:definition,history,examples,andhowtoavoidit

Theuncannyvalleyphenomenonisaneerieorunsettlingfeelingthatsomepeopleexperienceinresponsetonot-quite-humanfigureslikehumanoidrobotsandlifelikecomputer-generatedcharacters.

HAVEYOUEVER

encounteredalifelike

humanoidrobot

orarealisticcomputer-generatedfacethatseemabitofforunsettling,thoughyoucan’tquiteexplainwhy?

TakeforinstanceAVA,oneofthe“digitalhumans”createdby

NewZealand

techstartup

SoulMachines

asan

on-screenavatarforAutodesk.WatchingalifelikedigitalbeingsuchasAVAcanbebothfascinatinganddisconcerting.AVAexpressesempathythroughherdemeanorandmovements:slightlyraisedbrows,atiltofthehead,anod.

Bymeticulouslyrenderingeverylashandlineinitsavatars,SoulMachinesaimedtocreateadigitalhumanthatisvirtuallyundistinguishablefromarealone.Buttomany,ratherthanlookingnatural,AVAactuallylookscreepy.There’ssomethingaboutitbeingalmosthumanbutnotquitethatcanmakepeopleuneasy.

LikeAVA,manyotherultra-realisticavatars,androids,andanimatedcharactersappearstuckinadisturbingin-betweenworld:Theyaresolifelikeandyettheyarenot“right.”Thisvoidofstrangenessisknownasthe

uncannyvalley.

UncannyValley:Definition

The

uncannyvalley

isaconceptfirstintroducedinthe1970sby

MasahiroMori,thenaprofessoratthe

TokyoInstituteofTechnology.Moricoinedtheterm“uncannyvalley”todescribehisobservationthatasrobotsappearmorehumanlike,theybecomemoreappealing—butonlyuptoacertainpoint.Uponreachingtheuncannyvalley,ouraffinitydescendsinto

afeelingofstrangeness,asenseofunease,andatendencytobescaredorfreakedout.

Theuncannyvalleycanbedefinedaspeople’snegativereactiontocertainlifelikerobots.

Theuncannyvalleygraphcreatedby

MasahiroMori

:Asarobot’shumanlikeness(horizontalaxis)increases,ouraffinitytowardstherobot(verticalaxis)increasestoo,butonlyuptoacertainpoint.Forsomelifelikerobots,ourresponsetothemplunges,andtheyappearrepulsiveorcreepy.That’stheuncannyvalley.

TheUncannyValleyExplained

Inhisseminal

essay

forJapanesejournal

Energy,Moriwrote:

Ihavenoticedthat,inclimbingtowardthegoalofmakingrobotsappearhuman,ouraffinityforthemincreasesuntilwecometoavalley,whichIcallthe

uncannyvalley.

Laterintheessay,Moridescribestheuncannyvalleybyusinganexample—thefirstprosthetichands:

Onemightsaythatthe

prosthetichand

hasachievedadegreeofresemblancetothehumanform,perhapsonaparwithfalseteeth.However,whenwerealizethehand,whichatfirstsitelookedreal,isinfactartificial,weexperienceaneeriesensation.Forexample,wecouldbestartledduringahandshakebyitslimpbonelessgriptogetherwithitstextureandcoldness.Whenthishappens,weloseoursenseofaffinity,andthehandbecomesuncanny.

Inan

interviewwith

IEEESpectrum,Moriexplainedhowhecameupwiththeideafortheuncannyvalley:

“SinceIwasachild,Ihaveneverlikedlookingatwaxfigures.Theylookedsomewhatcreepytome.Atthattime,electronicprosthetichandswerebeingdeveloped,andtheytriggeredinmethesamekindofsensation.Theseexperienceshadmademestartthinkingaboutrobotsingeneral,whichledmetowritethatessay.Theuncannyvalleywasmyintuition.Itwasoneofmyideas.”

UncannyValleyExamples

Tobetterillustratehowtheuncannyvalleyworks,herearesomeexamplesofthephenomenon.Preparetobefreakedout.

1.

Telenoid

Takingthetopspotinthe

“creepiest”rankingsof

IEEESpectrum

’sRobots

Guide,

Telenoid

isaroboticcommunicationdevicedesignedbyJapaneseroboticist

HiroshiIshiguro.Itsbaldhead,lifelessface,andlackoflimbsmakeitseem

morealienthanhuman.

2.

Diego-san

EngineersandroboticistsattheUniversityofCaliforniaSanDiego’s

MachinePerceptionLab

developedthisrobotbabytohelpparentsbettercommunicatewiththeir

infants.At1.2meters(4feet)tallandweighing30kilograms(66pounds),

Diego-san

isabigbaby—biggerthananaverage1-year-oldchild.

“Eventhoughthefacialexpressionissophisticatedandintuitiveinthisinfantrobot,IstillperceiveafalsesmilewhenI’mexpectingthebabytoappearhappy,”says

AngelaTinwell,aseniorlecturerattheUniversityofBoltonintheU.K.andauthorof

TheUncannyValleyinGamesandAnimation.“This,alongwithalackofdetailintheeyesandforehead,canmakethebabyappearvacantandcreepy,soIwouldwanttoavoidthose‘deadeyes’ratherthaninteractingwith

Diego-san.”

3.

Geminoid

HI

AnotheroneofIshiguro’screations,

GeminoidHI

ishis

androidreplica.Heeventookhairfromhisownscalptoputontohisrobottwin.Ishigurosayshecreated

GeminoidHI

tobetterunderstandwhatitmeanstobehuman.

4.Sophia

Designedby

DavidHanson

of

HansonRobotics,

Sophia

isoneofthemostfamous

humanoidrobots.LikeSoulMachines’AVA,Sophiadisplaysarangeofemotionalexpressionsandisequippedwithnaturallanguageprocessingcapabilities.

5.Anthropomorphizedfelines

Theuncannyvalleydoesn’tonlyhappenwithrobotsthatadoptahumanform.The2019live-actionversionsoftheanimatedfilm

TheLionKing

andthemusical

Cats

broughttheuncannyvalleytotheforefrontof

popculture.Tosomefans,thephotorealisticcomputeranimationsoftalkinglionsandsingingcatsthatmimichumanmovementswerejustcreepy.

Areyoufeelingthateeriesensationyet?

UncannyValley:ScienceorPseudoscience?

Despiteourcontinuedfascinationwiththeuncannyvalley,itsvalidityasascientificconceptishighlydebated.Theuncannyvalleywasn’tactuallyproposedasascientificconcept,yethasoftenbeencriticizedinthatlight.

Morihimselfsaidin

his

IEEESpectrum

interview

thathedidn’texploretheconceptfromarigorousscientificperspectivebutasmoreofaguidelineforrobotdesigners:

Pointingouttheexistenceoftheuncannyvalleywasmoreofapieceofadvicefrommetopeoplewhodesignrobotsratherthanascientificstatement.

KarlMacDorman,anassociateprofessorof

human-computerinteraction

atIndianaUniversitywhohaslongstudiedtheuncannyvalley,interpretstheclassicgraphnotasexpressingMori’stheorybutasaheuristicforlearningtheconceptandorganizingobservations.

“Ibelievehistheoryisinsteadexpressedbyhisexamples,whichshowthatamismatchinthehumanlikenessofappearanceandtouchorappearanceandmotioncanelicitafeelingofeeriness,”MacDormansays.“Inmyownexperiments,Ihaveconsistentlyreproducedthiseffectwithinandacrosssensemodalities.Forexample,amismatchinthehumanrealismofthefeaturesofafaceheightenseeriness;arobotwithahumanvoiceorahumanwitharoboticvoiceiseerie.”

HowtoAvoidtheUncannyValley

Unlessyouintendtocreatecreepycharactersorevokeafeelingofunease,youcanfollowcertaindesignprinciplestoavoidtheuncannyvalley.“Theeffectcanbereducedbynotcreatingrobotsorcomputer-animatedcharactersthatcombinefeaturesondifferentsidesofaboundary—forexample,humanandnonhuman,livingandnonliving,orrealandartificial,”MacDormansays.

Tomakearobotoravatarmorerealisticandmoveitbeyondthevalley,Tinwellsaystoensurethatacharacter’sfacialexpressionsmatchitsemotivetonesofspeech,andthatitsbodymovementsareresponsiveandreflectitshypotheticalemotionalstate.Specialattentionmustalsobepaidtofacialelementssuchastheforehead,eyes,andmouth,whichdepictthecomplexitiesofemotionandthought.“The