2010 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

An experimental psychological study of the uncanny valley

Research Project

Project/Area Number	20530658
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Section	一般
Research Field	Experimental psychology
Research Institution	The University of Tokyo
Principal Investigator	SEYAMA Junichiro The University of Tokyo, 大学院・人文社会系研究科, 助教 (90302653)
Project Period (FY)	2008 – 2010
Keywords	情景判断 / 不気味の谷
Research Abstract	The degree of realism (photorealism) of artificial objects (or images) can have various influences on the human observers' judgments. The "uncanny valley" is a hypothesis related to such influences. This hypothesis states that human observers should have uncomfortable impressions of robots and dolls that are highly realistic. The present study began with an investigation of the uncanny valley, and aimed at understanding the judgment of (photo) realism in a broader sense. Our psychological experiments provided data suggesting that the (photo) realism judgment is based on the detection of artificialness rather than on the detection of naturalness.

(5 results)