Autism and the Uncanny Valley

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1) I tend to be drawn to rather than repulsed by things in the uncanny valley. I often relate more to humanoid characters than to humans

2) The Emily simulation was cool-- her eye motions were a little more repetitive than a real person's would be, but I'm not sure I would have noticed this had I not known it was a simulation.

3) I think NT people may be more inclined than autistic people to fake or over-exaggerate uncanny valley revulsion.

4) This is a fascinating topic. Thanks.

I'm the same way in that I tend to be drawn towards things that are in the uncanny valley rather than repulsed by them. I sometimes deliberately go looking for uncanny valley things online to try to see how far into the valley I can go before I start feeling mentally disturbed.

You're welcome! I'm glad you find this topic fascinating! I myself have found the concept of the uncanny valley to be fascinating. It's one of those things that I enjoy researching.

I think that this is an inevitability.

In the video, she looks very impressively humanesque but still fake. However, I think her Uncanny Valley fakeness is apparent mainly because she's filmed in close up with a camera that shows detail. If she were filmed from farther away with a grainier, blurrier camera, she would look fully human. What camera films grainier and blurrier but is always deemed "authentic" by the public that sees the clips? Camera phones! A famous person/politician could be "filmed" with faux footage that seemed to be taken from faraway with a camera phone. The distance and graininess would obscure the Uncanny Valley parts and all that would be left would be the recognizable features of that person.

Here is a good description: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/M ... annyValley



There was a movie about that concept (sort of) called S1m0ne. Someone (played by Al Pacino) created a COMPLETELY computer-simulated female "actress" and the whole world thought she was a real person.

Regarding the topic of this thread: I honestly could not tell "Emily" was computer-generated--I've seen interviews with some real actresses who look just as "wooden," if not more so.

i find that one really creepy. creepy but alluring like i find mannequins .. i expect them to really come alive. i can't look at them too long.



aha . most mannequins fall into this category for me. and the robot above. much moreso than the simulated actress in the first post.



this makes me wonder if a lot of autistic people are in the uncanny valley to NTs. it sure would explain a lot.

edit: just read more and noticed this bit


and i have to say that (unless violent) most people that are commonly avoided, like the homeless and the obviously mentally ill have never disturbed me one bit.

her gestures do not freak me out, but the concept does.
A mechanical human that does not have a moral compass but is controlled by possibly a human without one too freaks me out. Maybe "Terminator" is more of a prophetcy than I thought?

However I showed the video to my mom and she picked up on right away. She says that her face does not move when she talks which thoroughly wigged her out

In our own way, I suppose we who have AS are part of the uncanny valley to many N/Ts due to our odd mannerisms and minimal facial expressions. i, for one, do not feel as disturbed by simulacrums or robots of all kinds. But dead bodies do bother me. When Japanese robotics scientists "discovered" the phenomenon they called the uncanny valley, they realized an unexpected problem had arisen with the creation of realistic looking and acting robots. Interestingly enough, I strongly suspect that the uncanny valley applies less to people on the spectrum than it does for others.

i showed it to my husband and he asked, "interresting stuff, do they have a demo?" i had to tell him he was watching the demo. he said and i quote: " are you sh***ing me??" so i guess you could say he had no idea. but he might be on the spectrum, so who knows what that means in terms of AS/NT differences....
( he said she did look weird when she turned black though )

I goofed in my post above,
anyway this robot is alot more obvious...the smile is kinda creepy though.

As for the homeless, I used to hang out with them in Savannah because I was curious as to how they got in that situation. I found out alot. Fewer were druggies than is commonly believed, most the ones I talked to just had a string of bad luck in rapid succession such as loosing a job, cant find a new one, ran out of unemployment, cant pay rent, cant make car payment....wham! homeless. I was saddened by how many were veterans...that is a disgrace that our country allows that, and I even met some that were highly intelectual, but just sh*t out of luck. My favorate was a trumpet player named Eddie...he had some serous skills and was very smart, and he introduced me to the other homeless folks and kept me safe while I was learning. He will always have a special place in my heart. I have to admit that a few did give me a uncanny valley response but most of them were zoned out on drugs at the time. Some were unpredictable and mentally ill, but most were just what happens when things go bad without any social support.

I know this is a bunny trail from the topic but I thought that I would throw that in there.

Same here.