Entering the uncanny valley
Entering the uncanny valley...
Research by Karl MacDorman, director of the IUPUI Android Science Center, found that eyes enlarged 50%, especially when combined with photorealistic skin texture and unrealistic eyes like the computer graphic character at left, produced a strong sensation of creepiness in participants. The creep factor was lowest when skin and eye photorealism were well matched, like some of the characters at right. This visualization allows the viewer to experience changes in skin texture and eye realism as slight alterations are made to features in the big-eyed character, left, and the near-eyed character.
