Nowadays, especially with the development of artificial intelligence, the number of robots that look human-like or even human-like has increased significantly. Although this situation generally produces positive effects, It can create tension for some of us..

The strange feeling most of us have when we see humanoid robots in movies or on the news is not strange to us. So much so that this feeling has led to many scientific studies, but nowadays could not go beyond conjecture.

Uncanny Valley is a term that describes that different feeling we have when we see a humanoid robot.

Masahiro Mori

The term was coined in 1970 by a Japanese robotics professor. Described by Masahiro Mori. In addition, a lot of research has been done on this interesting term and topic and many claims have been made about why this feeling occurs, but today it has not progressed beyond a hypothesis.

This a feeling that combines emotions such as tension, fear, disgust and frightIt can also be felt for some mask and cartoon characters who can move and talk just like us.

Why did it get this name?

To understand this, we need to make use of the chart above. As seen in the chart As robots become more like us our feelings for them suddenly become negative feelings.

As these negative feelings increase, they suddenly decrease. Since the reason for this fluctuation is not yet clear and it is reminiscent of a valley, this section is a mood “creepy valley” given name.

So why does the “uncanny valley” effect occur?

Today, there is no scientific evidence that can fully explain the cause of this mood, but There are many hypotheses on this topic. Some theories say this condition is biological in origin, while others suggest it is cultural. The researchers, on the other hand, argue that all assumptions influence each other and thus have their merits.

Let’s make some assumptions Let’s explore together:

According to the “mate choice” assumption, which is effective for the continuity of our species:

To ensure the continuity of our species, we choose a suitable partner for ourselves with our instincts. In this way we can bring healthy babies into the world. These instincts are human-like when we start to see robots as humans instead of robots It causes feelings such as disgust, hatred and fright. These feelings lead to the situation we call the “uncanny valley”.

According to the assumption of avoiding disease and danger:

If someone sneezes or blows their nose near us, we are disgusted and stay away from them. Similar We avoid diseases. The same goes for situations that are dangerous and that can harm us.

When we see a humanoid robot, the structure of robots is not natural. our brain thinks that what is natural and unusual can be sick or dangerous. That’s why we shun robots and indeed, in a sense we avoid disease and danger.

Under the assumption of unmet expectations:

Under this assumption, when we see a humanoid robot, we expect a robot that looks just like us and can communicate with us with its emotions and thoughts. Here are a few like Negative emotions arise when our expectations are not met. and we experience the eerie valley effect.

According to the assumption of cognitive dissonance:

When we see a humanoid robot, we can’t quite decide whether it’s a robot or a human. there is a dissonance in our consciousness. This situation causes us to feel psychologically uncomfortable and negative emotions to surface.

Assuming incompatible items:

Research in recent years showed that people tend to feel uncomfortable when elements that don’t normally coexist.

For example, an article published in 2011, revealed that people are not bothered by robots with a robot voice, but find robots with a human voice scary.

One of the prime examples of the uncanny valley effect is the Shrek animation.

Princess Fiona character in the test screening of Shrek, one of the popular animated movies He looked so human that it caused feelings of fear and tension in children.

After these turns, the producers also played the character of Princess Fiona. decided to do it more in cartoon style.

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within animation failed to have the desired effect at the box office as it created the eerie valley effect.

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within animation uses the most successful CGI animations of its time. It has very realistic characters. but this situation created an eerie valley effect by inducing feelings of tension and fear in the audience. This situation prevented him from getting the desired effect at the box office.

The lead robot in the movie Ex Machina is one of the productions that creates an eerie valley effect.

!!!Spoilers!!!

When you first watch the film, the fact that the robots look so much like humans creates a deep tension in the audience. In addition, the fact that the leading boy falls in love with the robot, even if the robots appear naked. have the exact human body, forces the audience to be exposed to the uncanny valley effect.

Have you ever experienced the eerie valley effect? Specify in the comments and Remember to be careful, even with food processors.