...of the Uncanny Valley.
So dicking around on Second Life last night, I noticed a person who'd obviously spent a lot of money on fitting out their avatar- and obviously had a very firm picture in their mind of what they wanted their avatar to look like- and who was, frankly, so hideous I couldn't bear leaving the camera on his avatar as it jerked around dancing.
I mean, dude was seriously creepy.
Stepping back and thinking about it as 'this guy made a conscious effort to look this way, and not because he wanted to make my skin crawl' led me to a conclusion:
the Uncanny Valley may well be in different places for each of us. I might find animatronic Lincoln, in the Hall of Presidents at Disneyland, creepy- but you may not.
So dicking around on Second Life last night, I noticed a person who'd obviously spent a lot of money on fitting out their avatar- and obviously had a very firm picture in their mind of what they wanted their avatar to look like- and who was, frankly, so hideous I couldn't bear leaving the camera on his avatar as it jerked around dancing.
I mean, dude was seriously creepy.
Stepping back and thinking about it as 'this guy made a conscious effort to look this way, and not because he wanted to make my skin crawl' led me to a conclusion:
the Uncanny Valley may well be in different places for each of us. I might find animatronic Lincoln, in the Hall of Presidents at Disneyland, creepy- but you may not.
I'm still surprise by How Far Away this other guy's Uncanny Valley must be from mine, though. Dude obviously had spent thousands of lindens on the av, and yet-- eugh.
I'm thinking made of sculpty prims, textured in a very woodlike manner, w/ a tiny black shape-and-skin for the avatar to wear.
As far as movement, think ventriloquist's dummy.
Perhaps some clockworky noises if you're cammed in real close.
Edited at 2009-05-19 09:08 am (UTC)
Now I want to see this creep-making dude. Does a still capture it, or is it partially a function of the movement of the avatar?
I wish I'd thought to take a still- I didn't. Partially it was the movement in the dances he was using, but the ENORMOUS I'M-BEING-STRANGLED-OH-GOD-HELP of his eyes while jerking around in the dances decidedly contributed to the squick factor.
What I love about the Uncanny Valley particularly is that most people react in predictable ways to stuff that falls inside the Uncanny Valley and yet, if you ask them, they have no idea why. All they know is that they feel profoundly squicked.
Now I have a theory-set to work from.
This is a valid point- and a solid one. I'd wondered why the Uncanny Valley ever since I heard of it. Evolutionarily, it makes sense for humans to react to things that look human but behave inhumanly with a strong, firm 'AAAA DO NOT WANT!'.
For me, movement is key to the Uncanny Valley, as well. If it moves in a basically-fluid (but not TOO fluid) manner, I'm okay with it.
Uncanny Valley really is a fascinating place. (Has someone named a sim that yet?) I also wonder if one's valley changes with getting accustomed to these sorts of things - would SL and similar rendergame players be less squicked by a real-world avatar than folks from a not-yet-wired society?
I also think the UV varies by culture, but I have no idea why, and I'd love to see that explored. But just considering the smiley business - Japanese look at eyes more than mouth, Westerners reverse that, when judging expressions like happy or sad - makes me wonder.
And of course, by one's resolution - skins and things which I thought were perfectly tolerable when I had a crap video card became EUGH when I saw more detail.
But it really is fascinating stuff. The work of this guy has been fascinating me, actually:
http://www.ed.ams.eng.osaka-u.ac.jp/research/0012/
http://www.irc.atr.jp/Geminoid/
http://www.pinktentacle.com/tag/kokoro/
And for serious creepy only the Japanese could love:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1137747/Mini-Me-The-robot-doll-looks-sounds-just-like-you.html