Masahiro Mori’s Uncanny Valley hypothesis states that, as artificial beings get closer to resembling real humans, the slightest errors or inaccuracies can shift our responses from empathy to disbelief and even disgust. It’s why, in Toy Story, we love Woody and Buzz Lightyear, but are totally unmoved by Andy, their human owner.
This is something both videogame and movie special effects artists are having to grapple with now that processing power is allowing ever more naturalistic representations of human characters. And grappling with it they are. —Artists climb the uncanny valley (Guardian)
A good introduction to the subject.
Similar:
Boston Bombing Survivor Dances Onstage for First Time
Technology and artistry combine in this ...
Culture
Has life in the age of casual magic made moviegoers numb to the amazing?
This is one of the reasons I've become m...
Aesthetics
Robot Dramas: Autonomous Machines in the Limelight on Stage and in Society
A thoughtful overview of robots in cultu...
Aesthetics
Seton Hill's Griffin Holds an iPad in Front of Admin Steps (Blender 3D Models)
I textured the model I created yesterday...
Art
Media Bias Chart (Ad Fontes, v. 9)
Objective news reporting is an ideal. Wh...
Culture
In Purgatory's Shadow #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 5, Episode 14) Garak answers a coded ...
Rewatching ST:DS9 Kira helps Odo re-a...
Drama
Liz, I was just on your blog reading through your SIGGRAPH summaries… thanks for posting them.
I was at the SIGGRAPH panel on Mori’s hypothesis to which the Guardian gives an overly quick pass and posted a summary over on Virtualpolitik (http://virtualpolitik.blogspot.com/2007/08/ishiguros-daughter.html). It’s funny that Scott McCloud came up in the other comment, because he delivered one of the SIGGRAPH keynotes (http://virtualpolitik.blogspot.com/2007/08/angriest-dog-in-world.html).
I believe that Scott McCloud covered this point beautifully in his “Understanding Comics” complete with visual illustration. I know that the concept surprised me at the time but thinking about it confirmed the idea.