Universal Principles of Design, Updated and Expanded Third Edition

187 Uncanny Valley

Abstract and realistic depictions of human faces are appealing but faces in between are not.

Anthropomorphic forms are generally appealing to humans. However, when a form is very close but not identical to a healthy human — as with a mannequin or some computer-generated renderings of people — the form tends to become distinctly unappealing. This sharp decline in appeal is called the uncanny valley, a reference to the large valley or dip in the now classic graph presented by Masahiro Mori in 1970. Some attribute any negative affective response to a simple lack of familiarity with artificial and rendered likenesses, but more recent empirical research suggests the uncanny valley is a real phenomenon. The cause likely regards ...