The Uncanny Valley and how to achieve it

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• The webpage is a Reddit post from r/Geiltidecht discussing the Uncanny Valley Effect
• The author mentions being preoccupied with the Uncanny Valley Effect and having recently learned about it through other topics
• The author defines the Uncanny Valley Effect as the unsettling feeling that some people experience in response to humanoid robots and lifelike computer-generated characters that are not quite human
• The author suggests that the uncanny valley effect may be activating a cognitive mechanism that had originally evolved to help humans avoid sources of pathogens
• According to the author’s proposition, robots and androids in the uncanny valley may resemble human organisms with defects, and the presence of defects implies disease, inducing a feeling of aversion in the observers
• The author posits that the visual stimuli of the uncanny valley may elicit the same reactions such pathogens do, engendering feelings of revulsion or alarm which diseased humans and dead corpses produce
• The author suggests that the things that our ancestors feared, ran from, and faced would very likely curdle the blood of anyone living today
• The author conducted personal experimentation with the effect by watching animated films such as Final Fantasy and Tin Baby to see how they made people feel
• The author shares that they, as well as their husband, were not affected by the uncanny valley effect, but some coworkers and their daughter were
• The author wonders whether Rh negative individuals are affected in the same way as Rh positive by the Uncanny Valley Effect and poses a question regarding this potential link
• Some other Reddit users commented on the post with one user sharing a quote from H.P. Lovecraft’s “The Call of Cthulu” and another user thanking them for the quote. There were no further comments or information added to the discussion.

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• The term “Uncanny Valley” refers to a phenomenon whereby people feel uncomfortable and eerily repelled by human-like robots or digital characters that come close to, but fall short of, appearing fully human.
• The article notes that there is a gap between robots that are not designed to look human and ones that are lifelike, and that to be truly successful, robots need to fall somewhere in-between.
• The author of the article argues that the uncanny valley theory may be debunked due to the lack of scientific data and the existence of successful robots that are designed to look nothing like humans.
• There is a discussion on Reddit in the comments, where users discuss the concept of the uncanny valley, the examples used in the article, and the importance of subconscious cues in human perception.
• Some users argue that the examples in the article are not realistic enough and it is hard to believe in the existence of the uncanny valley based on them.
• One user suggests that although there may be little evidence for the existence of the uncanny valley, photos and videos of human-like robots lose crucial subconscious cues that inform human perception which may lead to an intensified perception of the uncanny valley effect in the media.
• Another user suggests that to avoid the uncanny valley effect, robots can be designed to look very different from humans, rather than resembling them but failing to replicate all their cues.
• A few users show a creepy attachment to robots, however, there are no further observations related to the perception of the uncanny valley phenomenon.
• The article cites a 2005 study, arguing that people react more positively when they known robots aren’t human but still share observable human traits, even if they are non-realistic abstract faces like those on the robot known as Kobian.
• Finally, the author encourages that the focus on the uncanny valley should not deter robotics designers and engineers from trying to improve robotics technology, as there is still a lot of room to innovate and help improve people’s lives.

• Query: The Uncanny Valley and how to achieve it
• The webpage on Reddit explains why the phenomenon of the Uncanny Valley appears more noticeable in 3D renderings compared to 2D drawings, with 4 Reddit users providing their opinions on the matter.
• One user suggests that drawings generally don’t meet the threshold of the Uncanny Valley because we know they are drawings.
• Another user explains that 3D models have the sense of being in a real 3D plane, irrespective of the skill level of the artist, which makes them appear more lifelike and susceptible to the Uncanny Valley effect.
• A third user suggests that 3D models are harder to make appear lifelike due to the need to simulate realistic lighting, shading, sub-surface scattering, and other attributes of real living beings.
• A fourth user explains the perception of 2D versus 3D art, suggesting that realistic lighting, shading, sub-surface scattering, and other visual characteristics create a more lifelike appearance in 3D models. Therefore, we tend to experience the Uncanny Valley effect in 3D as opposed to 2D presentations.
• The discussion thread overall has 13 points and multiple comments discussing the different perspectives on the Uncanny Valley.
• The webpage does not provide steps to achieve the Uncanny Valley, but discusses why computer-generated images may appear subtly less lifelike despite being based on physical features.

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• The Uncanny Valley is a hypothesis in robotics and 3D computer animation

• When human replicas look almost but not perfectly like humans, it evokes a response of revulsion among observers

• The Uncanny Valley is an intrinsic fear of the demented, which typically occurs in real life when people face living humans that just aren’t quite right

• In video games, it is thought that game characters haven’t fully experienced the Uncanny Valley, but this may be because they don’t look enough like humans

• Video game characters often look like obvious representations of humans

• Game characters may evoke mild discomfort, but it seems they don’t give most people the creeps

• Video game characters suffer from the same issues as human replicas that fall within the Uncanny Valley when it comes to body animations not relating to facial animation, limited facial bones and/or blend-shapes that look unnatural, textures that deform differently from real skin, and geometries that interconnect instead of deforming when characters touch

• Lighting is far from natural in video games, with little to no realistic soft-shadows or non-baked light bouncing

• Realistic video game characters only seem to give some people the creeps or evoke a pronounced uncanny feeling when they are recollected as being somewhat wrong or creepy, which suggests that gamers are ignoring it

• Games have already crossed the Uncanny Valley to a certain extent, and they can theoretically only improve

• A Redditor recommends a survey to gauge people’s reactions to realistic game characters, with a feeling that non-video game players may be more negatively affected

• Another Redditor notes that the uncanny feeling is still there when gamers play video games, but they ignore it and recognize game characters as representations rather than imperfect copies

• Another Redditor suggests that the environment around the characters is one reason why passing filters over a live-action video doesn’t produce an uncanny effect

• A Redditor finds LA Noire very jarring due to the contrast between realistic facial and awful body animation

• Another Redditor agrees that video game characters look less creepy because they aren’t meant to imitate humans and are meant to be recognizable as humans

• Another Redditor believes that games have already crossed the Uncanny Valley, citing examples from PlayStation 2 games like Heather from SH3

• The article includes a picture of a humanoid robot called Repliee Q2 that looks very creepy and elicits a visceral response

• Reddit post on the topic of the uncanny valley
• Original post and comments from 5 years ago - may not reflect current understanding of the topic
• Original poster does not experience the uncanny valley and suggests that there may be individuals who do not have this experience, but research has not been done on this topic
• Comments suggest that the uncanny valley exists between “obviously human” and “obviously not human”, and that it is not just related to looking like a realistic human
• Research has suggested design principles for avoiding the uncanny valley, including matching human realism in appearance and movement and reducing conflict and uncertainty by matching appearance, behavior, and ability
• Human facial proportions and photorealistic texture should only be used together to avoid the uncanny valley
• Link to the Wikipedia page on the uncanny valley for more information and design principles
• Link to a desktop version of the Wikipedia page
• Wikipedia page explains the concept of the uncanny valley, including the idea that as non-human objects become more humanlike, there is a region of negative emotional response from humans before the response becomes positive again
• The page provides graphs of the uncanny valley curve to show how the response varies with the level of human likeness
• Discusses one hypothesis for why the uncanny valley response occurs, which suggests that it results from the conflict between a perceived object’s humanlike qualities and non-humanlike qualities
• Reviews research that has shown the uncanny valley response can be mediated by factors such as familiarity and context, and that the overall effect size may be small
• Provides design principles for avoiding the uncanny valley:
  • Design elements should match in human realism
  • Reducing conflict and uncertainty by matching appearance, behavior, and ability
  • Human facial proportions and photorealistic texture should only be used together
• Provides examples of how these design principles have been applied in practice, including in the fields of robotics and animation
• Discusses some potential ethical concerns related to the uncanny valley, including issues around consent, empathy, and robotic rights.

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• The article explains what the uncanny valley is - a concept that suggests humanoid objects that imperfectly resemble actual human beings provoke uncanny feelings of uneasiness and revulsion in observers.
• The uncanny valley is a representation of how likely people are to dislike or feel estranged from something that seems too human-like but not human enough to be real.
• The valley is used to describe the relationship between familiarity and likability, in that the more human-like an artificial object appears, the more it should be liked - but only up to a point.
• Beyond a certain threshold, the likeness becomes unsettling, driving a person to feel uncomfortable in the presence of the object.
• The valley is forged by so-called “nonhuman-like” characteristics such as lifelessness, stiffness, and an absence of emotion.
• The article argues that humans are evolutionarily programmed to recognize and be wary of anything that seems almost human but not quite, because such resemblances could have evoked unwanted harm during our ancestors’ evolution.
• The text takes an example of how the movie Polar Express didn’t quite get rid of the uncanny valley: the eyes of the characters are incredibly realistic, but the rest of their bodies look fake. As a result, viewers could feel desensitized or alienated by them.
• The description of the uncanny valley includes graphs that show how people’s perception and likability of artificial objects increase when the objects resemble humans up to a point, after which the curve turns downward sharply.
• The article cites examples of movies that have not been able to overcome the uncanny valley, such as Beowulf and A Christmas Carol. Conversely, the article praises Avatar for having being able to do it.
• The comments section includes a debate about what evolutionary traits may lay behind the uncanny valley. Suggestions include the fear of outsiders, detecting predators, detecting people who are outsiders of the in-group, detecting physical abnormalities, protecting against rotting bodies, detecting skinwalkers, recognizing Neanderthal terminators attempting to sneak in to our caves, detecting aliens fuckin primates to create humans or humans being on an alien game show.
• There are also several humorous responses in the comments, including a reference to Attack of Titan, Mark Zuckerberg, and how people react differently to things resembling humans, such as cartoons and caricatures, but also adult cartoons that look too realistic.
• The comments also mention problems with the idea of the uncanny valley, suggesting that it does not account for individual differences in preferences and that humans can cultivate

• Reddit thread discussing the concept of the “uncanny valley”
• User suggests that the brain naturally recognizes faces, and anything that is slightly distorted from the norm can trigger an alarm in the brain.
• Pathogen avoidance hypothesis suggests that distorted features or paleness can be a warning sign for sickness, which our brain then avoids.
• Mismatch hypothesis suggests that seeing humanlike entities that are off, can trigger avoidance behavior as they are different enough from us to carry diseases we have not been exposed to but similar enough to communicate those diseases.
• Mortality salience theory suggests that the fear of things in the uncanny valley is a defense mechanism against facing our own mortality.
• A redditor suggests that this could be related to a defense mechanism against unfamiliar threats.
• Explanation for the dread response is dependent on individuals, however, discomfort is common across the board.
• Another user suggests that the aversion to the uncanny valley may be related to a way of recognizing corpses as they are similar to humans in certain ways, but different enough to be a source of disease.
• Discussion on the response from people to trypophobia and how that is similar to the uncanny valley effect.
• User suggests that living in a time where other proto-humans existed, but were not quite the same as us, may have developed this response.
• Redditor suggests that the idea of a tribe plays into this response, as people who look like you but not from your family or tribe can trigger a reaction.
• There is no clear consensus as to what causes the uncanny valley effect, but the discussion provides different theories that can explain it.
• Discussion remains centered on the sense of fear and discomfort that is associated with the phenomenon.
• Users continue to offer different hypotheses.
• Some users discuss decomposing corpses and the potential relevance of their effects on this sense of fear.
• There is acknowledgment of the nature of reposts and the unrealistic expectation of preventing them.

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💭  Looking into

Detailed discussion on how to avoid the Uncanny Valley in creating humanoid characters and robots

💭  Looking into

Explanation of Uncanny Valley and its significance