The Uncanny Valley in Games and Films

The uncanny valley is a psychological phenomenon that is used in designing characters for games and films. It is widely known that we tend to experience negative reactions towards artificial figures trying to mimic real human beings. There are subtleties in humans which make it difficult for artists to exactly imitate them; the closer these mimics get to hyperrealism, the creepier they will appear to us.

This effect is known as the “uncanny valley”. The term was used for the first time in robotics in 1970 by Masahiro Mori. When a humanlike character portrays a feature which is difficult to read in its context, there is a mismatch in our mind which is hard to overcome. Shapes and colours surely influence this.

The causes for these are still unknown. There are hypotheses that fake figures trying to replicate human beings remind us of corpses or sick individuals.

There are some films where computer-imagery notoriously fell into the uncanny valley, like Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within and The Polar Express. In recent years, the technology has made a noteworthy leap in making digital humanlike replicas more acceptable, thus the unintentional use of the uncanny valley in games and films has been reduced. Filmmakers and game developers are now aware of the phenomenon which can and has been beneficially used to design monstrosity and scare viewers.

Our response to the uncanny valley is complex and it does change from culture to culture. However, studies have found common triggers for it. The uncanniness is usually related to the presence of an atypical feature of the character such as the eyes (dimension and movements, like the absence of blinks) or the lack of interaction between the character and the live-action actresses (for example, characters not maintaining eye contact). The loss of identity is another key factor of the uncanny valley: human beings feel panicky when they cannot read the expression of others. Being able to identify threats is vital for our survival.