June 15, 2012 03:24pm ET'Uncanny Valley' Pioneer Rethinks Creepy Objects Masahiro Mori Roboticist Humans stand next to their geminoid robot twins. Credit: Courtesy of Geminoid.DK Julie Rafn Abildgaard, AAU View full size image

When a Japanese robotics pioneer first described the "uncanny valley" of creepy objects, he filled its imaginary depths with human cyborgs, corpses and undead zombies. But four decades can change a man — he now finds the faces of dead humans and Buddha statues more comforting than the faces of the living.

Masahiro Mori created the uncanny valley metaphor in 1970 to suggest how artificial figures can steadily seem more likable as they appear or behave more like humans, but only up to the point before their likability takes a sharp plunge into creepiness. His metaphor has since become a common explanation for why android robots or Hollywood's latest computer-animated films can creep people out rather than win their hearts and minds.

But the uncanny valley was never a perfectly defined concept —researchers still debate its existence in the human mind and how it triggers such eerie sensations. Mori described his own change of heart about dead people's faces in a short message addressed to a 2005 workshop on the uncanny valley (link provided courtesy of Karl MacDorman, a robotics researcher at Indiana University who translated Mori's "uncanny valley" essay into English).

"A dead person's face may indeed be uncanny: it loses color and animation with no blinking," Mori wrote. "However, according to my experience, sometimes it gives us a more comfortable impression than the one given by a living person's face. Dead persons are free from the troubles of life, and I think this is the reason why their faces look so calm and peaceful."

Mori also said he no longer found living human beings to be the most attractive faces on the upper right-hand slope of the uncanny valley chart. Instead, he pointed to the faces of Buddhist statues as "the artistic expression of the human ideal" with a sense of serenity "beyond the worries of life."

Such interest in what lies beyond the veil of mortal life also emerged in a new Q&A with Mori that accompanied a new translation of the original "uncanny valley" essay in IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine. Mori suggested that the "teachings of Buddha is the best way to understand humans" in the process of making robots.

This story was provided by InnovationNewsDaily, a sister site to LiveScience. You can follow InnovationNewsDaily Senior Writer Jeremy Hsu on Twitter @ScienceHsu. Follow InnovationNewsDaily on Twitter @News_Innovation, or on Facebook.

让人毛骨悚然的恐怖谷现象－森政弘机器人

2012年6月15日下午3时24 ET'Uncanny谷“先锋反思令人毛骨悚然的对象森政弘Roboticist 人类站在旁边，他们geminoid机器人双胞胎。图片来源：Geminoid.DK朱莉Rafn的Abildgaard，AAU查看原图

当日本的机器人技术的先驱第一次描述了＆QUOT的礼貌;恐怖谷＆QUOT;令人毛骨悚然的对象，他充满了想象的深度与人体生化机械人，尸体和不死僵尸。但四十年可以改变一个人＆mdash;他现在发现死了人与佛像比活人的脸更令人欣慰的面孔.

森政弘创造了不可思议的山谷比喻在1970年提出了如何人工数字可以稳定似乎更讨人喜欢，因为他们出现或表现得更像人类一样，但只到前点自己的好感度发生急剧投身到creepiness。他比喻已经成为一个共同的理由来解释为什么Android的机器人或好莱坞的最新电脑动画电影可以爬的人出来，而不是赢得他们的芳心.

但恐怖谷从来就不是一个完美的定义概念＆mdash;研究人员还在争论它的存在在人的头脑，以及它如何触发这种怪异的感觉。森所描述的短消息了自己的心脏对死去的人的面孔的变化给2005年的研讨会上恐怖谷（提供的链接礼貌卡尔MacDorman，一个机器人技术研究人员在美国印第安纳大学谁翻译森的＆QUOT的，不可思议的谷地＆QUOT;作文成英文） .

＆QUOT;一个死去的人的脸可能确实是不可思议的：它失去了色彩和动画，无闪烁，＆QUOT;森写道。 ＆QUOT;然而，根据我的经验，有时它给我们带来了更舒适的感觉比一个又一个活生生的人的脸给定的。死者是免费的，从生活中的烦恼，我想这就是为什么他们的脸看起来那么平静祥和的原因＆QUOT;

森还表示，他不再发现活人是在右上角的最有吸引力的面孔离奇的谷图表 - 手斜率。相反，他指出，佛像的脸为＆QUOT;人类的理想和QUOT的艺术表现力;安详＆QUOT感;超越生命的忧虑和QUOT;

中是什么样的凡人生活的面纱也出现了一个新的Q＆放这样的利益; A和森，伴随着原＆QUOT的新译本;恐怖谷＆QUOT ;文章在IEEE机器人与自动化杂志。森建议＆QUOT;佛陀的教诲是了解人类和QUOT的最佳途径;在制作机器人的过程.

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