The Uncanny Valley

[krissy]

Uncanny valley - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The uncanny valley is a hypothesis in the field of robotics[1] and 3D computer animation,[2][3] which holds that when human replicas look and act almost, but not perfectly, like actual human beings, it causes a response of revulsion among human observers. The "valley" in question is a dip in a proposed graph of the positivity of human reaction as a function of a robot's human likeness.

Yes, I absolutely hate it. Because it's so obviously fake. I prefer cartoony things that aren't pretending to be super realistic VS photo quality textures that behave like they're robots. I dunno. Anyway, my point is this video is incredibly good:

"Kara" by Quantic Dream - YouTube

[Vyk]

Uncanny valley is such a weird term. Obviously the progression is whoa that looks real. Whoa that looks even MORE real. Whoa that looks almost completely real. And then whoa .... that looks ... surreal. Why don't they call it surrealistic or something. No lay man is going to know what "uncanny valley" is, even with most context clues. Its a ridiculous term in my opinion, but a very real phenomenon. And as has been pointed out in previous times, its mostly associated with surrealistic creations of children. At least in CG animations. Its pretty prevalent in robotics over-all when they start looking too real

Wish I could watch the video though. But alas Google Chrome on tablet, and YouTube don't like each other I'll definitely have to check it out later

[krissy]

It is a pretty ridiculous term, I agree. I've actually felt this way in all Bioware games... I think it's because their eyes move in a weird way. Every time I see non-CG images of Mass Effect or Dragon Age I think 'that's...odd'.

The vid is really good if you're into Asimov or android sci-fi short fiction at all!

[Pike]

When I played the Mass Effect 3 demo is was just like "Whoa boy, uncanny valley EVERYWHERE"

Most games pull it off well enough, though, usually by adding some sense of stylization instead of going for pure realism. I prefer the stylization, anyway.

EDIT: This is a sexy vid, hnnnngggg I love robots. BUT THAT ENDING oh man. I actually cried.

[Del Murder]

I completely agree with you Reno. I hate that there's this goal in games to make rendered models to be as close as human looking as possible. I loved the block characters of FFVII or the human-like characters of FFIX. The FMVs of FFX were unsettling and recent videos I saw of ME3 (the one with the little girl in America as it is attacked) just made my skin crawl.

[DMKA]

I've yet to play a game where it bothered me.

[Sephex]

That video was very awesome. I wish they would form that into a full game.

Anyway, I never experienced the effect in any video game, but the last time I felt weirded out when when I saw The Polar Express back when it came out in 2004. I couldn't enjoy the movie because I felt queasy looking at it the whole time. I didn't feel as if I was going to throw up my popcorn any time soon, but still. I knew what I was seeing what computer generated characters with motion capturing, but my mind kept on subconsciously insisting it was all real. I think the mental tug of war is what gave me that feeling.

Anyway, I think that's the only time I even been profoundly effected by the Uncanny Valley Effect. Otherwise, I just say, "That looks kind of funky," and move on.

[Loony BoB]

I don't think ME3 is that bad. I also think that FFXIII showed just how good faces are getting as I'm starting to see their emotions on their faces a lot more lately. I wasn't impressed with Oblivion, though, to say the least... can't remember if Skyrim was that much better but if I remember Oblivion's faces for being bad but not Skyrim's, hopefully that's progress in action.

My major pet peeve is when they have 3D bodies with what appear to be 2D faces, maybe with a nose or something but that's about all. Urgh. That's horrible.

I don't mind cartoony things, but I don't mind ME3-styled stuff, either. Incredible HD environments is no longer how graphics will really improve - it'll be realistic faces and bodies instead. I'd say that we're past the worst of it and that it should get better and better.

[Mirage]

I think a common problem that is a partial reason of the occurence of an uncanny valley is that as graphical quality increases, facial expressions (and other subtle animations) and lip syncing doesn't live up to what we expect from something that looks as human as what we're looking at.

And I'm with Pike. That's a wonderful video.

[Slothy]

I think a common problem that is a partial reason of the occurence of an uncanny valley is that as graphical quality increases, facial expressions (and other subtle animations) and lip syncing doesn't live up to what we expect from something that looks as human as what we're looking at.

I don't think it's something that's just limited to facial animation and lip synching though and includes all animation. I mean, I really don't think characters in Mass Effect look so real I'll ever be creeped out by them (except whatever the hell that character is based on Jessica Chobot. That trout is unsettling), but from what I remember of playing through the original ME, the animations were pretty bad. The characters were stiff and didn't move naturally at all and it was pretty jarring when everything else looked good for the time. Hell, when I played it it was a pretty great looking game if you looked at it while nothing moved.

But then you look at a game like any of the Uncharted titles and not only are they pushing as many (if not more) polygons per character and focusing far more on capturing expressive facial animation, they focus far more on including smoother and more natural animations in general. There are some that don't look quite right, but the characters, overall, move in a much more believable way. And some of that may even be animating the most subtle, never going to notice it in a million years sort of things like smooth transitions from one animation to the next, but when those subtle elements aren't there it's pretty damn jarring because we know how the human body moves. We see them do it every day. I've actually always admired Naughty Dog for their focus on animation because pretty much everything they've ever made looks incredible as a result.

[Mirage]

Of course, it's not limited to *just* facial animations, but I think bad facial animations on great graphics cause a bigger valley than bad limb animations on great graphics.

Ideally, a game should deliver in both areas.

Oh yeah, if you want an example of really good facial animations, look at L.A. Noire.

[Loony BoB]

I just also want to point out that I like the video on Penny Arcade (I think it was on there) better than the Wikipedia definition when it comes to explaining the Uncanny Valley.

EDIT: Ah, here we go. http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/the-uncanny-valley

[Skyblade]

I just also want to point out that I like the video on Penny Arcade (I think it was on there) better than the Wikipedia definition when it comes to explaining the Uncanny Valley.

EDIT: Ah, here we go. Penny Arcade - Extra Credits – The Uncanny Valley

Extra Credits joined up with Penny Arcade? Awesome! I was so worried they wouldn't find a new sponser after the Escapist fiasco.