The Uncanny Valley Theory Gets Deeper...and Creepier

Human face emulation for video games is starting to hit a new level as we approach sci-fi reality one creepy step at a time. I'm not sure I would have been able to tell this woman was computer generated if I hadn't known prior to watching it, though I feel confident I still would have caught on. Still, it's the closest I've seen.

(Though on second watching it's impossible to miss her animated movements - I think I was initially distracted by the discomfort of finding her attractive. Eat your heart out Jessica Rabbit. Still, the uncanny valley theory strikes again.)

You have to love the self-deprecation of the guys that built her - she slings barbs at her own creators. What an animatronic bitch.

The challenges of this kind of work is apparently getting the eye movements right, as well as the naturally asymmetrical gestures of human facial musculature.

The creators of the chip technology, which enable this feat, say by 2020 we won't be able to distinguish between real and computer generated - still a ways to go...

Charting The Uncanny

The Uncanny Valley is starting to take over my life slowly but surely. Ever since I heard of it a few days ago, things have been popping up, like this post from Mind Hacks. Vaughan collects the Youtube links for a video lecture by Karl MacDorman on how we interact with robots as their human likeness increases.



The clip from 30 Rock that got this ball rolling in my mind, which is based on the heady idea Tracy Jordan has to create a porn video game:

The Uncanny Valley Theory...and 30 Rock

I don't tend to go to 30 Rock for my science, but I'll openly admit it - The Uncanny Valley Theory was unknown to me until I watched last week's episode:

"Mori's hypothesis states that as a robot is made more humanlike in its appearance and motion, the emotional response from a human being to the robot will become increasingly positive and empathic, until a point is reached beyond which the response quickly becomes that of strong repulsion. However, as the appearance and motion continue to become less distinguishable from a human being, the emotional response becomes positive once more and approaches human-to-human empathy levels.

This area of repulsive response aroused by a robot with appearance and motion between a "barely-human" and "fully human" entity is called the uncanny valley. The name captures the idea that a robot which is "almost human" will seem overly "strange" to a human being and thus will fail to evoke the empathetic response required for productive human-robot interaction."

Apparently, this isn't really embraced as legitimate scientific theory, and I can appreciate that, but man, it sure feels true. If you look at this graph, you see what the dip in the valley equates to - a corpse and a zombie. Wow, that really says it all. It sort of explains our obsession (or mine at least) with zombie movies.

Zombies are the versions of us without the free will - I don't think there's anything more terrifying than seeing something human-like on auto-pilot (while trying to devour my flesh). This is probably what freaks me out about religious zealots, it really seems like no one's behind the wheel, making the decisions (while trying to devour my flesh).

Maybe they're not all bad...