The uncanny valley: Effect of realism on the impression of artificial human faces
Source record
seyama-nagayama-2007· 2007 · Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments
Evidence tier: B (peer-reviewed-journal) · Verification: unverified (compiler confidence: high)
Bottom line: Realism alone did not produce unpleasantness; strong unpleasantness appeared only when highly realistic faces had abnormal eye size.
Citation
Jun'ichiro Seyama, Ruth S. Nagayama (2007). The uncanny valley: Effect of realism on the impression of artificial human faces. Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, 16(4), 337-351. https://doi.org/10.1162/pres.16.4.337
Verification entry (identifiers, resolvers, claims with source locations): /data/citations.json#seyama-nagayama-2007
Study design
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Design | Morphs between real and artificial (doll/mask) faces with eye-size manipulation; pleasantness ratings |
| Modality | image-face |
| Stimuli | Real-to-artificial morph continua |
| Participants (N) | not recorded |
| N detail | small (not recorded) |
| Topics | uncanny-valley, mechanisms, atypicality |
Results
| Metric | Value | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Realism alone | no valley | |
| Abnormal features × high realism | strong unpleasantness | realism amplifies sensitivity to deviations |
Mechanism relevance
atypicality, perceptual-mismatch
Limitations
- Small samples
- Static images
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.