Today, it is known as one of the first photorealistic computer animated films, but at the time not everyone was impressed. The first time many people encountered the concept of the uncanny valley was in 2001 with the movie Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. And some researchers are asking whether the uncanny valley exists at all. What exactly we are feeling and why we feel this way are questions that have finally found their way under the microscope. But now the concept itself is coming under scrutiny like never before. From Pixar to puppets, creating characters that are too lifelike was thought to be the kiss of death for any project. Its residents, like Kaspar, have a way of eliciting feelings of disgust, fear or dread.įor almost 30 years, the concept of the uncanny valley has acted as a golden rule for roboticists and animators. Peering into the uncanny valley is an uncomfortable experience. It is the range between obvious cartoons and discernibly real people, where things look almost lifelike, and yet not quite believable. From humanoid robot heads to super-realistic prosthetic hands, the uncanny valley is where robots that give us the creeps live.
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Kaspar has been created at University of Hertfordshire, UK to help children with autism understand how to read emotions and engage with other people, but it falls into what's often called “the uncanny valley”. "I must admit," says Walters, "when I first actually built Kaspar, I did think he was a bit uncanny." Even though the image is somewhat fuzzy, Kaspar Two is able to give me that feeling, that nagging sense of unease. He's not even on, just sitting slumped over. As the Skype connection catches up, an image of a robot in a baseball hat, a blue button-down shirt and striped socks appears.
Mick Walters opens a door in his lab and points his computer’s camera towards the small, blurry, tan-coloured object he has just revealed.