114 ◾ The Uncanny Valley in Games and Animation
Milo’s mother in the animation Mars Needs Moms (Wells, 2011) was
criticized for showing a lack of emotional expressivity, to the extent that
the viewer could not detect warmth or compassion from her toward her
family. e virtual simulation of actress Joan Cusack failed to demon-
strate a caring and nurturing disposition due mostly to her inadequate and
bizarre facial expression. A lack of detail in Milo’s mother’s upper facial
expression, especially in scenes when she was supposed to appear scared
or startled, exacerbated the possibility of antisocial traits in this character.
Rather than being capable of expressing empathy and love toward others
and her family, the viewer may have been more suspicious of potentially
manipulative and unpredictable traits in this character. e viewer may
be le thinking that she does not care about her son or others and is con-
cerned only about her own self- gain so they can no longer engage with
her. Instead of being perceived as kind and likeable, she was criticized for
being strange with a wax- work complexion, dead, emotionless eyes and
with the emotional delity of a mannequin. In his article “Curse of the
Mummy in Mars Needs Moms,” Nicholas Schager (2011) drew connections
between Milo’s Mom and a chilling zombie character, more apt for a hor-
ror lm. Schager described Cusack’s computer- generated (CG) facial sim-
ulation as “unsettling” and stated that this character emanated a “creepy
Madame Tussauds vibe” (p. 1). In an article for USA Today, writer Ryan
Nakashima (2011) described feedback from parents who had taken their
FIGURE 5.1 An example of a female, empathetic human- like character typical of
those used in games and animation by 3D artist Lance Wilkinson.
Applying Psychological Plausibility to the Uncanny Valley ◾ 115
children to see Mars Needs Moms: “Doug McGoldrick, who took his two
daughters to see the movie, said the faces of the main characters ‘were just
wrong.’ eir foreheads were lifeless and plastic- looking, ‘like they used
way too much botox or something’” (p. 1). Another parent had explained
to Nakashima that the human- like characters were “all annoying in their
own way” (p. 1).
Milo’s Mom was described as the living dead (Nakashima, 2011;
Schager, 2011) as her behavior was perceived as frightening, annoying and
disturbing. Due to this uncanny behavior, some viewers regarded her as
more of a curse than a blessing (ibid.). In this instance, the viewer may
have perceived psychopathic tendencies in Milo’s mother that contra-
dicted her dened role in this animation and that seemed more appropri-
ate for an antipathetic, uncaring character. is may have helped ignite
the criticism that this character (and others) in the lm received because
ultimately audiences were put o and dismayed at the sheer lack of emo-
tional warmth that this family- oriented, feel- good animation was sup-
posed to instill. e animation was intended to evoke sentimentality and
emphasize the close bond between Milo and his Mom, yet the perceived
lack of emotional empathy in these human- like characters le viewers
cold and unmoved.
Furthermore, this appraisal may stretch beyond gender and be rel-
evant to children and elderly human- like characters too. e actor and
actress used in the study to test psychopathy as a predictor of uncanni-
ness (see Tinwell et al., 2013) were each 19years old, and the human- like
virtual characters Barney and Alyx depicted young adults of a similar
age. However, psychopathy has been determined as a lifelong condition
that can present in individuals over the age of 60 and in children as early
as the age of 8 (Harpur and Hare, 1994). In a recent article for e New
York Times, journalist Jennifer Kahn (2012) wrote about Anne, whose
9-year- old son, Michael, had been diagnosed with psychopathy. Kahn
also provided the perspective of Paul Frick, professor in psychology at the
University of New Orleans, who has studied how to assess and treat psy-
chopathic children. Anne described her son’s behavior as extreme and was
frustrated at the lack of emotional empathy in Michael toward others as
well as his unpredictable outbursts: “Michael had developed an uncanny
ability to switch from full- blown anger to moments of pure rationality or
calculated charm—a facility that Anne describes as deeply unsettling. ‘You
never know when you’re going to see a proper emotion,’ she said” (p. 1). In
116 ◾ The Uncanny Valley in Games and Animation
support of this observation, Frick’s work had identied the associated risks
in such children who could show cruel acts toward others with a distinct
lack of remorse. In Kahn’s article, Frick described how psychopathic chil-
dren can portray a blatant lack of care and empathy for others. “Callous-
unemotional children are unrepentant. ‘ey don’t care if someone is mad
at them,’ Frick says. ‘ey don’t care if they hurt someone’s feelings.’ Like
adult psychopaths, they can seem to lack humanity” (Frick, as quoted in
Kahn, 2012, p. 1). A perception of psychopathic traits in either children or
elderly virtual characters may be even more alarming for the viewer than
in young adult characters, as characters of these age groups may typically
be expected to be of a more naive and innocent (less threatening) nature.
Children may be expected to have less worldly experience than adults and
therefore be less scheming. In the case of the elderly, they may also be
expected to be of a less calculating or sadistic persona due to potential
symptoms of cognitive dementia and physical limitations that would typi-
cally make them more vulnerable to others. An example of an elderly male
human- like virtual character is provided in Figure5.2. Similarly, because
of their comparative vulnerability, children or elderly members of the
population may have greater sensitivity to uncanny characters as percep-
tion of psychopathic traits may pose a greater threat to those age groups.
Based on this, it would be interesting to widen studies to include children
and elderly human- like characters to see if psychopathy is a predictor of
FIGURE 5.2 An example of a male, elderly human- like virtual character by 3D
artist Lance Wilkinson.
Applying Psychological Plausibility to the Uncanny Valley ◾ 117
uncanniness in these younger and older characters and to include partici-
pants of varying age in these future studies.
5.7 ANTISOCIAL TRAITS IN ANTIPATHETIC CHARACTERS
Character designers may consider this analogy of perception of psychop-
athy as a driver of the uncanny as a way to increase perception of anti social
traits in antipathetic characters that are intended to have an uncaring and
scheming persona. Viewer perception that a character may be prone to
aggressive outbursts or capable of violent behavior with little remorse may
be benecial for criminals featured in games and animation (Tinwell et al.,
2014). As stated in an earlier book chapter, “it may improve player engage-
ment in a crime- thriller if those guilty characters may convey traits simi-
lar to those diagnosed with aspects of ASPD or psychopathy” (p. 335). By
reducing upper facial movement in monsters and villains when they may
be expected to show a startled response, designers may strategically apply
these tactics to evoke the uncanny and make evil characters appear even
more convincing. e player may benet from criminals in crime- thriller
video games such as LA Noire (Team Bondi, 2011) that portray antisocial
traits, to improve not only the believability for the human- like criminal
characters but also player involvement and engagement with the story
(Tinwell et al., 2014). In game, the player can hold face- to- face interviews
with the LA Noire (Team Bondi, 2011) characters as a way to identify poten-
tial suspects or watch characters describe details of past events. In addi-
tion to what each character says, the player must rely upon observation of
a character’s NVC to fathom that character’s intentions and whether they
are guilty or innocent. In this way, aberrant facial expression in characters
with a realistic human- like appearance may help the player detect who is
a villain and which characters they may be more likely to trust (or not)
to help solve problems and win the game (Tinwell et al., 2014). e visual
startle reex to shocking events may be omitted in antipathetic, criminal
characters such as Harlan Fontaine as a hint to the player that this charac-
ter’s behavior is suspicious and they are not to be believed (Tinwell et al.,
2014). Similarly, the depiction of a false smile in a character when they
should otherwise be happy and relaxed may guide the player to sense that
they are tense, scheming and not to be trusted. ese facial visual cues
that suggest abnormal social interaction and ASPD in a character may
help the player understand which players would be capable committing
crimes. A hint of antisocial behavior to the extent of psychopathy in a
character (due to a lack of upper facial movement) may make the player
118 ◾ The Uncanny Valley in Games and Animation
suspicious that this character is capable of violent, aggressive acts and kill-
ing others without regretting what they have done. erefore, if a charac-
ter’s bizarre facial expression makes a player feel uncomfortable so that
they are less trusting and accepting of a character, then uncanniness may
be used by the player as a warning signal to detect a villain or killer in a
game (Tinwell et al., 2014). is method of detection may make the player
pay more attention to a character’s facial expression and heighten player
concentration and immersion in the game LA Noire (Team Bondi, 2011)
and other similar crime- thriller games. is may help make such games
more enjoyable and increase player satisfaction with that game.
Solving a mystery in this way, by observing subtle nuances in NVC
provocative of lies of omission, would no doubt be a more reward-
ing feat for the player, rather than having to rely solely on more bla-
tant clues such as more obvious lies of commission. (Tinwell et al.,
2014, p. 336)
However, this strategy would not be eective as a way to identify crimi-
nals in a game (or animation) if all characters, including those who were
supposed to be empathetic, portrayed aberrant facial expression. As this
is more oen the case and most human- like characters, guilty or not, can
unwittingly portray antisocial traits, designers should acquire a greater
awareness of how we interpret NVC in the upper face, especially when
showing a startled expression, before the uncanny can be used to help
eliminate criminals. If the uncanny is to be used in this way, to the advan-
tage of the player and designer, then the facial expression of empathetic
characters that are not intended to mislead the player must be accurate
and congruent with their in game state. If there is no clear dierence in
the facial expressions and perceived personas of ‘good’ versus ‘bad’ char-
acters, then this more sophisticated element of player– character interac-
tion may not be achieved and players may be le confused and frustrated
with the game (Tinwell et al., 2014). Furthermore, improved graphical
realism in subtle details such as pupil dilation, as well as the more obvi-
ous wide eyes and brow li, may be necessary in characters before the
uncanny may be controlled in this way.
e explanation provided here as to why viewers experience the uncanny
is also prevalent to human- like virtual characters outside the domain
of games and animation for entertainment purposes. For example, it is
..................Content has been hidden....................
You can't read the all page of ebook, please click here login for view all page.