Stuff You Should Know Selects: Is The Uncanny Valley Real?
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Mar 25, 2023 Delve into the eerie world of the Uncanny Valley, where lifelike robots can send chills down our spines. Explore the psychological underpinnings of what makes something unsettling and how our emotional connections to animated characters play a crucial role. Discover fascinating insights from robotics to beer appreciation, uncovering how exaggerated traits can make robots more relatable. The conversation highlights cultural responses to technology and the complexities designers face in balancing realism with comfort.
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The Uncanny Valley Phenomenon
- The Uncanny Valley describes the unsettling feeling humans experience when robots or other entities appear almost, but not quite, human.
- This revulsion occurs as human likeness increases, creating a dip in affinity on a graph.
Mori's Graph of Affinity
- Mori's graph plots affinity against human likeness, starting with industrial robots and progressing to stuffed animals like C-3PO.
- Animated characters like those in Disney films climb the graph due to their exaggerated, cute features, increasing affinity.
Motion Amplifies Creepiness
- Motion amplifies the creepiness of something in the Uncanny Valley.
- A moving corpse or a zombie is perceived as far creepier than a still one.
