The Uncanny Valley

Masahiro Mori's Uncanny Valley theory is a very interesting concept. If you're not familiar with it, the idea is simple. Mori designed robots. He realized that the more human-like he made them look, the more they appealed to people, but only up until a certain point. Once the robot started looking "too human," people were turned off.

Here's a quick example: take a look at this picture. Charlie Brown is a simple cartoon character; he looks like a human but no one would mistake him for an actual person. His head isn't proportioned correctly, his eyes are just dots, and he only has four fingers. Still, we're all drawn to him. After all, he's cute!

Now look at this picture of Osaka University's Repliee Q1 robot. She is obviously much more realistic. She has skin, hair, and correctly proportioned features, but I wouldn't call her cute. In fact, it wouldn't be a big step to liken her to an animated corpse.

But why isn't she as likable as Good Ol' Charlie Brown? Doesn't it make sense that the more something appears to be human, the more love and empathy we should feel for it? Well, according to the Uncanny Valley theory, we cut Charlie Brown a lot of slack. Our minds focus on the qualities that make him look like a human being. However, when something looks so close to human that it's almost real, we focus on the subtle things that differentiate it from a real person and we're a little freaked out.

The reason it's called a valley and not a cliff, by the way, is because theoretically it is possible to create a character so human-like that we will no longer be able to distinguish it from an actual human. We just haven't reached that point in technology yet. Some say we never will. What do you think?

If you'd like to learn more about the Uncanny Valley and how it applies to games, here's a well produced youtube video that provides a nice summary.