did an experiment. He asked test subjects to rate how much they liked
different pictures of people, from cartoons to photographs. The more real
the picture, the better the test subjects liked them. When he put the test
results on a chart, it looked like a line that kept going up as the images
became more real. Right before the end, however, the line took a sharp dip
downward and then came back up, like a valley between two mountains.
Mori concluded that when the image looked almost human but not quite, it
went from being friendly to scary.
It took many more years before robots looked human enough to fall into
the Uncanny Valley. Some of the first were created by roboticists who were
also artists. David Hanson graduated from the Rhode Island School of
Design. He got his start working for Disney, creating animatronic statues
that moved and talked like humans. His company Hanson Robotics builds
very life-like robots. Some are made to look like famous people, including
scientist Albert Einstein and science fiction author Philip K. Dick (who wrote
about robots that didn’t realize they weren’t human). Hiroshi Ishiguro, a
A simplified version of Mori’s Uncanny Valley diagram.
Karl MacDorman under a GNU Free Documentation License
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roboticist at Osaka University in
Japan, first studied to be a painter.
After he became interested in
computers, Ishiguro built a robotic
clone of himself named Geminoid.
He sent it out to give lectures in
his place, making it move and talk
by remote control. To make it even
more lifelike, he even topped it with
his own hair.
For many people, realistic robots like those created by Hansen and
Ishiguro definitely fall into the Uncanny Valley. But no one is sure how the
Uncanny Valley reaction works. Some experts think it may have developed
in early humans as a survival tool, to alert them to anyone who might be
sick. Others, including David Hanson, don’t believe it exists at all. The way
the robot moves may be part of it. For example, the robot dog Spot can
seem frightening because it looks like a machine but walks like a real dog.
Even passive-dynamic walkers like the paper version of Spot in Chapter
1 can look strange when they walk downhill by themselves! The Uncanny
Valley may also be one reason zombie movies can be funny and scary at
the same time.
Hiroshi Ishiguro’s goal is to create a robot that looks human enough to
pass the Turing Test. But Masahiro Mori believes a better solution to the
Uncanny Valley problem is to make it obvious that the robot isn’t real. In
2021, the British robotics company Engineered Arts tried to do that with
its realistic robot, Ameca. Instead of hiding Ameca’s tubes and wires, they
let them stick out. The robot’s rubbery skin is gray. But Ameca’s facial
expressions still look eerily real to many people. Even Tesla founder Elon
Musk — whose electric car company is also working on its own robot,
named Optimus – responded to a 2021 video of Ameca by tweeting “Yikes!”
For this project you will explore the limits of the Uncanny Valley by making
Hiroshi Ishiguro and his robot Geminoid HI-4.
Hiroshi Ishiguro via Osaka University
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a copy of your own face using modeling clay. You don’t have to make an
entire head — just add clay to a flat picture to sculpt the parts that stand
out, like your nose, lips, and chin. Will it be cool or creepy? Take a poll of
friends and family to find out!
WHAT TO EXPECT
• Time Needed: 1–2 hours
• Cost: $15 or less
• Difficulty: Easy
• Safety Issues: None
SKILLS USED
• Playing with modeling material.
• Making a life-like model.
SUPPLIES
• 1 or 2 copies of a black-and-white selfie, printed out on letter-sized
regular paper (see tips below for how to shoot it and how to pose)
• If you can’t print out a photo, get a mirror and draw a sketch of
your face.
• Masking tape, glue stick, or spray glue
• Cardboard or poster board to use as a base
• Crayola Model Magic modeling compound, or other rubbery,
self-drying material, white or colored to match your skin
• Washable markers for adding color to the modeling compound
• Clay modeling tools or kitchen utensils, including:
• Unsharpened pencil with clean eraser
• Toothpicks
• Craft sticks
• Disposable forks, knives, and spoons
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INSTRUCTIONS
1. As you plan how your photo should look, think about ways to make your
clone look believable but eerie at the same time:
• Make your features — ears, eyes, nose, mouth — stand out from
your face as much as possible.
• Include details like individual teeth and the shape of your nostrils.
• Give your image extra personality and emotion.
• Add things like jewelry or hair color that make you look unique.
2. If you want to match your exact skin tones, take a hunk of Model Magic
and flatten it into a thick pancake. Then roll the tip of a washable
marker back and forth across the pancake’s top
(Figure
A
)
. Smush and
knead the ink into the compound until the color is even
(Figure
B
)
.
3. Tape or glue one copy of your photo to poster or cardboard
(Figure
C
)
.
Begin to sculpt your prototype with Model Magic. Use a second copy of
your photo if you need a guide when you begin to cover up the first copy.
4 Start with the highest parts first: the nose
(Figure
D
)
, chin, and brow
(Figure
E
)
. As you build, use the smallest amount possible. It’s easier to
add more than to take away extra.
5. After you’ve built the highest parts, go on to other rounded areas like
the cheeks and the area around the lips
(Figure
F
)
.
6. Once you’ve got the most obvious shapes laid out, fill in the flat areas
between them, like the forehead and the neck
(Figure
G
)
. As you add
each piece, connect it to what’s already there.
A B
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7. Pay attention to the unique shape of your eyes, the inside of your
nostrils, and the curves inside your ear. Add each individual tooth, one
by one
(Figure
H
)
. These little details are the things that make the
model look hyper-realistic.
D
F
C
E
G H
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