uncanny valley

[ uhn-kan-ee val-ee ]

noun

- a psychological concept that describes the feelings of unease or revulsion that people tend to have toward artificial representations of human beings, as robots or computer animations, that closely imitate many but not all the features and behaviors of actual human beings.
- the dip in positive feelings toward such artificial representations.

Origin of uncanny valley

1970; coined by Masahiro Mori, Japanese roboticist (born 1927), from Japanese bukimi no tani (genshō) “uncanny valley (phenomenon)”

With video, that uncanny valley of almost being there tends to make you long for the real thing.
Why Phone Calls Beat Video Chats (and Nothing Beats IRL) | Susanna Schrobsdorff | March 14, 2021 | Time
As mysterious as the uncanny valley phenomenon is, we do have some theories about why we might find almost-human things unsettling.
Your favorite brunch foods are thousands of years old | PopSci Staff | March 3, 2021 | Popular-Science
There are two full-on song-and-dance numbers in this movie — only two, not enough to make it a movie musical, but two more than you’ll find in your average feature film, which means it enters a kind of movie-musical uncanny valley.
The fabulous Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar recalls a bygone age of wackadoodle comedy | Alissa Wilkinson | February 12, 2021 | Vox
It seems that games are beginning to reach the uncanny valley, because the dead eyes just made me feel uncomfortable.
‘Killzone: Shadow Fall’ Review: Oh My God, This PlayStation 4 Game Is Beautiful | Alec Kubas-Meyer | November 19, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST

Browse