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| Uncanny Valley essay first appeared in Obscure Japanese Journal in the 1970s called Energy |
I have noticed that, in climbing towards the goal of making robots appear human, our affinity for them increases until we come to a valley, which I call the uncanny valley
The prosthetic arm has achieved a degree of resemblance to the human form, perhaps on par with false teeth. However, once we realize the arm is false, we experience an eerie sensation. For example, we’d be startled by a handshake with a texture of coldness and a boneless grip.
The human arm controls a realistic myoelectric hand, called the “Vienna Hand”
I predict that it is possible to create a safe level of affinity by deliberately producing a nonhuman design. Also consider the wooden hand of Buddha. The hand lacks fingerprints, and retains the natural color of wood. Perhaps this can also serve as a design reference
The paper says that the movement from life to death could be a movement to the bottom of the uncanny valley (still). “This descent explains the secret lying deep beneath the uncanny valley.” It’s integral to our instinct of self preservation. The sense of eeriness is probably a form of instinct that protects us from sources of danger, such as corpses, members of different species, and other entities we can closely approach.