Viewer perception of facial expression and speech and the uncanny valley in realistic, human-like, virtual characters

• Main Author: Tinwell, Angela
• Published: University of Bolton 2012
• Subjects: 794.8
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.555852

Those designing realistic, human-like, virtual characters for video games are seeking to suspend disbelief for the viewer by creating characters that are believably human. However, despite increasing sophistication in performance capture animation techniques and 3D modelling software, viewers are still aware of disparities between a character's realistic, human-like appearance and their behavioural fidelity. Those characters that differ from the human norm in their appearance and. behaviour risk falling into the 'Uncanny Valley' (Mori, 1970), a hypothetical place where objects regarded as frightening or repulsive are placed. Through a series of empirical studies, I have contributed to filling an evident gap in the literature on how the uncanny may be controlled by manipulating aspects of facial expression and speech in character design. The results from my initial empirical investigation lead to a new standpoint as to possible psychological factors that contribute to the cause of the Uncanny Valley based on the idea that aberrant facial expression in a character may lead to a perception of a lack of empathy in that character. The findings are not only applicable to characters featured in video games, but also those featured in animation and in virtual simulations beyond the domain of entertainment, such as healthcare and education. v