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The Uncanny Valley
Yet the humans' skin could not be too realistic. It was well known that as depictions of humans became more lifelike, audiences would perceive them as more appealing -- until the realism reached a certain point, close to human but not quite, when suddenly the depictions would be perceived as repulsive. The phenomenon, known as the "uncanny valley," had been hypothesized by a Japanese robotics researcher, Masahiro Mori, as early as 1970. No one knew precisely why it happened, but the sight of nearly human forms seemd to trigger some primeval aversion in onlookers. Thus, the minute details of human skin, such as pores and hair follicles, were left out of The Incredibles' characters in favor of a deliberately cartoonlike appearance.
That is from David A. Price's very interesting The Pixar Touch. Here is Jason Kottke on The Uncanny Valley.
Posted by Tyler Cowen on May 18, 2008 at 01:23 PM in Film | Permalink
Comments
It'll be nice to tell folks I know about The Uncanny Valley from something other than 30 Rock.
Posted by: Joyce at May 18, 2008 1:45:38 PM
See an interesting Wired article from a couple years back:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.06/face_pr.html
Posted by: Craig at May 18, 2008 2:41:01 PM
The concept may be new to some of you, but it's hardly new. For instance, Wikipedia has had an "uncanny valley" article since January 2004.
I for one would like to see a horror film that exploits the uncanny valley to good effect.
Posted by: at May 18, 2008 3:06:31 PM
I don't get where Wikipedia-guy's condescension is coming from. Tyler's quotation specifically says the uncanny valley has been known since the 1970's.
Posted by: at May 18, 2008 3:19:57 PM
Doesn't Marilyn Manson belong just to the left of Madonna's spread in Jason's chart?
Posted by: Eric H at May 18, 2008 4:29:07 PM
For many years, my best Halloween costume consisted of an over the head tight fitting monkey mask. It was hairless and fit so tight that my eyes seemed fused into its features. I wore it with standard street clothes and when someone spoke to me I responded only using hand jestures.
When kids (big and small) came to the door for their trick-n-treat and they saw me, it was “skedaddle” time.
The almost human quality of the costume and my behavior absolutely terrified everyone. My kids and my wife hated it, too.
Although I did not have a name for what it did, I always felt it triggered some primordial terror mechanism that’s hard wired into our being. In fact, each time I saw my own reflection in the hallway mirror, I got a cold shiver.
I actually had parents come to my house to berate me for being too scary after their kid ran home crying.
What a great mask… there are times I really miss it!
Posted by: Michael at May 18, 2008 5:00:43 PM
I have found that this is true in genetic technology. You can cross all sorts of genes among species & most people will be more-or-less ok with it. But, if somebody ever gives a cat or a monkey genes that give them human-looking skin, there will be a major freak-out.
Here is a web page of an artist commenting on these things, but I wonder if the work really is just using the uncanny valley to cause discomfort.
http://www.patriciapiccinini.net/
Posted by: kebko at May 18, 2008 5:56:57 PM
I recall "The Polar Express" taking heat from critics because the characters' eyes looked wrong -- "dead," some described them.
I've always thought that characters in Pixar movies (The Incredibles, etc.) are intended to look like they've been fabricated in plastic molds, just like the toys the company hopes to market from the movies.
Posted by: Bat of Moon at May 18, 2008 7:49:51 PM
People under estimate just how much detail we unconsciously take in with our senses and an incomplete, distortion or contradiction in the sensory info triggers the repulsion.
It's not that it's too real it's that it is not quite real enough. We look for the something that is missing or in conflict if the illusion is too complex and that shatters it.
Posted by: T.W at May 18, 2008 9:03:48 PM
Evolutionary hypothesis: An organism that looks close to but not exactly like a healthy human being might well be a very sick and potentially contagious human being.
Posted by: Mark at May 18, 2008 9:10:52 PM
Or an animated corpse.
Posted by: Timothy at May 18, 2008 9:29:31 PM
Wow, the first poster said exactly what I was going to say. 30 Rock has just blown my mind by throwing in a reference apparently so obscure that I, a connoisseur of obscurity, had never heard of it until now. Well done, 30 Rock!
Posted by: Ylight at May 18, 2008 11:23:27 PM
Pores are kind of gross anyway. I always find women less attractive up close.
Posted by: Noumenon at May 19, 2008 8:34:57 AM
Pores are kind of gross anyway. I always find women less attractive up close.
Gay.
Posted by: tps12 at May 19, 2008 1:57:54 PM
Pores are kind of gross anyway. I always find women less attractive up close.
Posted by: Taeyoung at May 20, 2008 11:06:14 AM
Tell it to me in Star Wars.
Posted by: TP at May 21, 2008 12:12:23 AM
