The uncanny valley [From the Field]
Source record
mori-2012-uncanny-valley· 2012 · IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine
Evidence tier: C (essay) · Verification: unverified (compiler confidence: high)
Bottom line: Proposes that affinity rises with human likeness, drops sharply just short of full likeness, then recovers; movement amplifies the curve; designers should aim for the first peak.
Citation
Masahiro Mori, Karl F. MacDorman, Norri Kageki (2012). The uncanny valley [From the Field]. IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine, 19(2), 98-100. https://doi.org/10.1109/MRA.2012.2192811
Verification entry (identifiers, resolvers, claims with source locations): /data/citations.json#mori-2012-uncanny-valley
Study design
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Design | Authorised English translation of Mori's 1970 essay 'Bukimi no tani' (Energy 7(4):33-35). Theoretical, non-empirical. |
| Modality | robot, prosthetic |
| Stimuli | Thought experiment (industrial robot, toy robot, prosthetic hand, bunraku puppet, corpse, zombie) |
| Participants (N) | not recorded |
| N detail | non-empirical |
| Topics | uncanny-valley, theory |
Results
| Metric | Value | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Hypothesised curve | non-monotonic (valley near high human likeness) | y-axis 'shinwakan' variously translated as affinity/familiarity |
Moderators
- Movement deepens the valley (hypothesised)
Mechanism relevance
human-likeness
Limitations
- Not empirically derived
Cited in
- MR-0002: The Uncanny Valley and Synthetic Media: Does It Exist, What Causes It, and Have Deepfakes Crossed It?
Verification
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Status | unverified |
| Compiler confidence | high |
| Checked on | — |
| Via | compiler knowledge |
Values on this page have not all been checked against the full text. Confirm them against the primary source before high-stakes use.